Friday, June 1, 2018

The Great Fire Truck Challenge

A few years ago, the good people of Beiseker donated to buy a newer fire engine.  The money was raised, and a truck was found in the States.  It was purchased and trucked to Beiseker. 

It was from the southern U.S., so there were a few things that needed to be changed so it could live in our not-so-tropical climate.  A block heater was installed, along with a cab heater and a heater to keep the water pump warm. A few other modifications were made.

A few short years later the pump needed to be rebuilt.  The truck was sent in to "experts" in Calgary to estimate how much it would cost to fix it.  Those experts said the truck was a complete disaster and it would cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair!

I disagree!

I think that much of the repairs could have been done locally and the cost of putting the truck back in service would be considerably less than the estimate given to us.  Instead, now that truck now languishes in the public works yard, out of service!

I believe that truck can still be repaired and sold to recoup some of the money this community worked so hard to gather!  It is NOT scrap!  It is a major capital expense for this village!  What is council going to do?

1 comment:

  1. This council will do what they always do... nothing! It will sit there until it can’t be salvaged, instead of looking into it for repairs and or even parting it out and saving either the truck or some finances however, what good is a fire truck(or any other equipment just “hanging” around) without a fire department?
    We as residents were never informed of anything to do with the fire department closing down, which in my opinion is scary and down right a risk to the entire village, then when councillors were tagged in a fb post regarding it, they couldn’t even reply so long story short, this will still be a discussion 3 yrs down the road or until the council and mayor take a change for the better(2 of them need to stay) Look at 7th street...... what a fantastic decision that was and now all filled in with pea gravel, so sad. This village is in need of some major work( that doesn’t cost us an arm & leg like the water) and it starts at the top in village hall!

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