Fire departments in western Kansas rely on each other for not only help responding to fires and emergencies but also for training and equipment.
After an Ellis County fire truck recently broke down, the Scott County Fire Department stepped in to lend a hand.
Ellis County Fire Chief Darin Myers said while on a call north of Hays, a pump on Engine 50 failed. The cost of a new pump is more than $25,000 not including the labor and cost of other parts needed to fix the more than 26-year-old system.
Myers said they estimate the 1995 Ford pumper truck used to fight structure fires, which is slated for a replacement this year, was worth between $5,000 and $10,000.
“It would be an immediate loss to put money into the truck and then it’s budgeted to be replaced anyway,” Myers. “We wouldn’t get the money back out of it when we sold it.”