Renovating an old semi-tractor from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is helping the Crockery Township Fire Department save a lot of money on a new truck.
The DNR has a program in which it will donate a vehicle to the fire department once there is proof that the vehicle is being used.
The 2007 chassis the state agency donated to the Crockery Township department had less than 10,000 miles on it, according to Township Fire Chief Gary Dreyer.
"We had the frame stretched and a new apparatus body and pump installed," Dreyer said. "The total cost (of the renovated vehicle) will be around $169,000."
The money comes out of millage funds.
The department took delivery of the 4,000-gallon tanker last week and is in the process of installing all the needed equipment on it.
Dreyer said they hope to have the truck complete and all personnel trained so the tanker will be ready to roll by the end of the month. Firefighters have already tested the pump, rated at 1,000 gallons per minute, he said.
Also a former DNR vehicle, the 1988 truck, tanker 563, was renovated and put into service in about 2007, Dreyer said. Under the former DNR program, this truck will be turned back to that agency for auction at that time.
Two other vehicles — a late 1970s and a 1986 brush truck — are also DNR vehicles and will be turned over to that agency when the fire department is done with them.