The chief of a central Indiana fire department said Tuesday he’s already making changes to keep his trucks rolling in emergencies.
So far this year, the Bargersville Community Fire Department has run more than 1,500 calls, up from about 1,100 in the first six months of 2020. During the same period, fuel costs rose from about $18,000 to nearly $42,000. Fire Chief Eric Funkhouser said the latter figure represents nearly two-thirds of his fuel budget for this year.
“Not since I’ve been doing this, and probably not for a long time that we’ve seen this,” he said when asked if he’s ever seen that kind of cost increase. “We thought we had put a good pad in this year to make sure that we had plenty. Obviously, we came up a little bit short.”
Funkhouser said firefighters typically buy their fuel in bulk and have their own dispensers at one or more stations. This saves some money compared to what drivers pay at the pump, but it doesn’t fully protect them.