Daingerfield City Council authorizes purchase of new fire truck

By Marlene J. Bohr
mbohr@steelcountrybee.com

Daingerfield Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Jimmy Cornelius’ request for decommissioning an aging fire truck and ordering a demo truck was met with unanimous approval at the Daingerfield City Council’s April 14 meeting. The truck will cost the city $370,000.
“Several months back we lost a pump on county engine 411,” Chief Cornelius said. “This pump makes most of the calls in the county. I relayed the information to the city manager and told him it was out of service at this time.  We talked about getting a grant and we were given amounts on redoing the pump. We started out at $10,000 and are finding more prob-
lems; therefore, it would be completely tearing down and rebuilding the pump. This pump is 22 years old. The truck also has several other problems. It is leaking a lot of other fluids. You can’t keep sinking money in this truck. We need to take it out of service and utilize engine 417, which is a city engine. Engine 417 is an older engine and comes up in 2015 when it will go out of ISO (Insurance Service Office) service.
“It doesn’t pay to fix it for what the county gives us and what it is costing us. There are 40 percent of the calls we make that are in city and 60 percent are in the county.  We get $12,000 a year from the county. It just doesn’t figure up to keep putting money in this truck. It is 22 years old and has over 3,000 calls on it. If there is a fire in the city and the county at the same time, the other pump engine stays in the city,” Chief Cornelius said. “The county gives about a 10 percent contribution and they are getting approximately 60 percent of the calls.”
Mayor Lou Irvin said she and City Manager Carl Teel contacted the county judge.
“She said to contact them before the next budget meeting,” Mayor Irvin said. “We can plead our case before them.”
Councilwoman Laura Mabey disagreed.
“I think we should pull the services and let them come before us and plead their case,” Mrs. Mabey said. “We could cut off services to the county.”
Chief Cornelius said the fire department members do not want the city to spend any more money on the truck.
“This other engine can do double duty but its primary responsibility is inside the city limits,” Chief Cornelius said. “The truck we use for the county is completely worn out.”
“If we decommission it and do not purchase a new one and use our two city trucks, I think we need to let the county know we do not have the equipment,” Mrs. Mabey said. “We are proud of our fire department, but we cannot just keep subsidizing the county with the city taxpayers’ money.”
Fireman Travis Miller said some of the volunteer firemen live out in the county.
“The question will come up for the fire department; can they leave the city limits to fight a fire for their own volunteers if they live in the county?” Mr. Miller asked.
Chief Cornelius said there is a demo truck available for $370,000 to replace the truck that is going out of ISO service in 2015.
“For a brand new engine, it would cost $390,000,”  he said. “We have been looking at demo pumpers. One company will allow us to sign a paper today and not make any payments for a year. There is no interest on that year either. A new truck would replace #417. The demo truck has 8,000 miles on it, it is $370,000 and it is a 2013 model.”
Councilman Mike Carter said they didn’t have to worry about decommissioning the older truck; it had decommissioned itself.

Read more in our e-edition:http://www.etypeservices.com/SWF/LocalUser/Daingerfield1//Magazine51413/...