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Smithers Fire Department buying new truck and tools

New truck will be able to pull necessary trailers and equipment
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Smithers fire hall (file photo)

The Smithers Fire Department is making a couple of big purchases this year.

Fire Chief Kelly Zacharias gave an update to Smithers council at its last regular meeting with some upgrades coming to the department.

First, the fire department will be getting a new 1-ton truck.

During 2023, budget discussions council approved funding to come from the Fire Department Equipment Reserve Fund. The town is buying a 2024 Chevrolet 3500LT 4X4 pickup truck from Coast Mountain GM in Smithers at a cost of $67,306.31 after trade-in, taxes not included.

This vehicle will replace the existing 2010 Dodge 1500 4X4 pickup which will be traded in at the time of purchase. In a report to council, Zacharias said the rationale for purchasing a 1-ton pick-up versus a half-ton is to gain the gross vehicle weight required for the fire department to pull its trailers. He explained that both the sprinkler protection unit (SPU) trailer and the mass casualty trailer are too heavy to be towed by half-ton pick-ups. When the SPU trailer is deployed for BC Wildfire Service it requires two tow vehicles and a five-person crew.

Next, Zacharias told council the fire department will be getting new auto-extrication tools.

He told councillors they are purchasing a set of TNT electric storm battery operated extrication tools from supplier Associated Fire Safety. The money will also come from the Fire Department Equipment Reserve Fund.

Zacharias said this set of extrication tools will replace the existing tools which were purchased in 2004 and are nearing the end of their useful life as frontline tools.

In another report to council, he added it is very difficult to find replacement parts or hoses for the old tools as they are obsolete and can only be found in the U.S. The department will keep this old set of tools as a backup set only as there is no residual value left in them.

In his report, he said the new set of tools are battery-operated and totally portable versus being hooked to hydraulic hoses that only extending 100-feet from their rescue vehicle.

“This is a huge advantage as a lot of the vehicles we respond to are more than 100 feet off the road. Another advantage is that the new tools have 300,000 pounds of cutting force versus 80,000 pounds the old tools had. With the high tensile strength components in newer vehicles the extra cutting pressure creates faster extrication times resulting in a quicker handover to BC Ambulance Service,” he said.

The tools cost just over $75,000.

READ MORE: 911 Dispatch has been disrupted three times in six months


@MariscaDekkema
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Marisca Bakker

About the Author: Marisca Bakker

Marisca was born and raised in Ontario and moved to Smithers almost ten years ago on a one-year contract.
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