Caroline Kubzansky
Pioneer Press Newspapers, Suburban Chicago
(TNS)
Nov. 21—Park Ridge fire department officials have begun the process of buying two new ambulances for a total of $808,566.
That price is a one-third increase from previous purchases, reflecting the rising costs of goods, particularly in emergency equipment, Park Ridge fire department leadership said at a Committee of the Whole meeting this month.
Each ambulance will cost $404,283. Deputy Fire Chief Derek Decker said the most recent capital improvement plan budget had planned for the ambulances to cost closer to $375,000 apiece.
“There’s price adjustments,” Decker said. “We always project a life expectancy for that vehicle and the way that the city’s vehicle replacement plan works is you identify ‘here’s what a vehicle is likely to cost in 10 years.'”
It’s not just ambulances that have seen price jumps, Decker said.
“Manufacturers’ costs are increased for whatever reasons; we’re seeing it increased for loose equipment, like fire hoses or nozzles,” he said. And, he added, other fire departments in the region are seeing the same increases.
The two ambulances will be identical, which Decker said would help the department standardize its fleet in terms of both how the vehicles look and how they store equipment and operate. That helps the emergency workers who drive them do their jobs more efficiently, he said.
Originally, Fire Chief Jeff Sorensen said the department was going to get started with the purchase process next year, but that there is currently a two-year waiting period. He assured council members that the current ambulances have two to three more years of life in them and that the city was getting started with the purchase process because of the long wait period for their delivery.
It’s best to not delay with these kinds of purchases, he added — the wear and tear on the vehicles means that the department needs to think ahead to replacements well before they need them.
“Ambulances are like painting the Golden Gate Bridge: as soon as you get to one end, it’s time to start at the beginning again,” Sorensen said.
A typical ambulance has a lifespan of eight to 10 years, he said.
The new ambulances will use gasoline instead of diesel fuel, he said.
According to a city staff memo explaining the purchase, the payment for the ambulances won’t be due until the vehicles are delivered, meaning the city will need to budget for the ambulances in its 2024 spending plan.
The fire department is also facing major cost increases as it looks at renovating its two fire stations, which were built in 1969 and 1970.
Sorensen told City Council members in September that the original cost for renovating Stations 35 and 36 was about $3.3 million, but that figure has since ballooned to $5.8 million.
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