The Hamburg Township Fire Department is updating and replacing a pair of their firefighting vehicles.

The Hamburg Township Board of Trustees approved the request by Fire Chief Nick Miller for the conversion of their daily response vehicle, Rescue 11, into an Engine, and the replacement of existing Engine 11, at their regular meeting last week. Miller said that Rescue 11 gets heavy daily use, but is hindered by a lack of firefighting capabilities, and this will fix that. The Chief said Rescue 11 goes on 95% of the department’s runs, and is very mobile, but can’t carry water. This conversion to an engine will change that. The new engine will hold 750 gallons, and Miller says will be designed to handle the first 5 minutes of response, until the larger Engine and staff can arrive.

A request for proposal for the work was sent out and came back at roughly $528,000. The replacement for Engine 11 is projected to cost around $607,000. Both vehicles have actually outlived their projected lifespan with the department, and while Miller says they are still safe to use, they are getting to the point where safety concerns and maintenance costs are making these changes more necessary. By having vehicles worked on at the same time, the department is saving $20,000 from what would be the $1.135-million cost.

Chief Miller says that the costs fit in line with what they expected and will come out of next fiscal year’s budget. (MK)