Fire District No. 3’s new brush engine, ordered in September 2015, arrived well ahead of the upcoming fire season.
#The Fire District put the newly completed engine into service on April 12. The engine is stationed at Station 31 in Husum. Volunteers welcomed the engine by pushing it to rest in its bay, per the custom of an agency Capt. Mike Renault used to serve.
#On April 13, Fire Chief Chuck Virts accepted a check for $6,000 from BNSF Foundation representative Courtney Wallace toward the cost of completing the engine.
#“These funds covered the expense for purchase and installation of the new brush engine’s emergency lighting, radio equipment, and associated controls located in the truck cab,” Virts said.
#Fire District No. 3 anticipated replacing an older brush truck in 2014, “but that didn’t happen,” Virts said.
#“That was at least in part due to the expenses the district incurred hiring legal representation to defend against the levy lid lift lawsuit filed against the district in late 2013,” he explained. “At any rate, we put off replacing the brush engine until making further repairs to a 1986 vintage truck no longer penciled out.”
#The Fire District ordered the chassis through the state bid process in September 2015. The truck arrived in late December and the build-up was completed in early April.