The 2017 Rosenbauer engine replaced the stations oldest engine and brought the department up to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to having at least one apparatus in service newer than 20-years-old.

“A committee of eight worked for six months to hammer out all of the specifications and features we would need and stay within our budget to get the new engine,” stated Chief Kurt Troutwine. “This engine gives us much more to help with being efficient and safety measures.”

According to Chief Troutwine, each of the department’s fleet were over 20-years-old before the addition of the new engine.

The commission had agreed to shutter an underused rescue truck last September in exchange for new captain positions, which included a training officer.

Last year, Fire Chief Gary Ballard said the training officer was the department’s most needed priority and the rescue truck lacked staff to keep it active more than 10 percent of the time.

Now, the next year’s budget proposal includes a new rescue truck and a crew to run it. Commissioners debated the issue during the second of two days of budget discussions Thursday. Final decisions on the 2017-18 budget will be made in September before the new fiscal year starts Oct. 1.

Bainbridge Island sent Brush 21 to the blaze, manned by Bainbridge Lt. Josh Foley and firefighter Kyle Nelson. Brush 21 is a specially designed rig outfitted with pumps and other equipment for battling wildland fires.

The pair joined a strike team composed of units from Pierce and Kitsap counties, said Bainbridge Island Assistant Fire Chief Jared Moravec, who gave Bainbridge fire commissioners a brief update of the mobilization late last week.

The Girard Fire Department was awarded $428,572.

With that money, the fire department will be purchasing a rescue pumper, a truck that holds water to fight structure fires and has the necessary extrication equipment to assist in car accidents. 

The truck will do the job of two of the department's older trucks. One of which is a 1989 engine, and the other is a 1994 rescue truck. 

Fire officials say the current engine from 1989 has an open cab design which is no longer used due to the danger of firefighters falling from the truck.