Councilman Bob Williams, who sponsored the resolution, says closing an engine poses a safety risk. He estimates the $300,000 would cover overtime costs for Engine 6 firefighters for three months, giving incoming mayor Mike Purzycki time to prepare his budget.

“I don’t feel it fully meets the standards that our taxpayers expect of us,” he said, adding Modesto needs a better policy to ensure something like this does not happen again.

Modesto did not go out to bid for this proposal, instead relying on competitive bidding performed by the Houston-Galveston Area Council. A city consultant told council members that government agencies across the United States, including Modesto, use the H-GAC.

Purchasing consultant David Lewis with Management Partners said Modesto was not likely to get better results if it had done its own competitive bidding.

The Fire Department will be getting Pierce Manufacturing engines and trucks. PNC Equipment Finance will purchase the equipment from Pierce on behalf of the city and then lease the equipment to the city for $598,538 annually over 10 years. Modesto could purchase all of the equipment at the end of the lease by paying $954,214, bringing the total cost to about $6.9 million.

The truck will arrived next fall and will come fully equipped for firefighting duty.

Just last month, a house fire required nearly four hours of fighting but, in spite of their efforts, the home was a total loss. Fire chief Eric Harlow told News 9 had they had a working ladder truck then the outcome may have been different. Without it, firefighters were slowed, unable to get onto the roof to properly ventilate it or cut holes into it in order to get water onto the fire.

The budget for the truck is $934,000. The new ladder truck will cover all of Logan County as well as Guthrie since no other fire department has one.