Oakdale City Council members on Monday night unanimously approved Modesto City Assistant Fire Chief Tim Tietjen’s request to purchase new fire and rescue equipment to outfit the new fire engine recently purchased from Hi-Tech Emergency Vehicle Service Inc.
The price tag for outfitting the new engine will not exceed $112,844 but was an expected expense when the city decided to purchase the rig, said officials.
The purchase authorized at the March 7 council meeting will cover nozzles, an attack hose, supply hose, extrication equipment, saws, and some miscellaneous equipment.
According to Tietjen, the city has historically managed to be thrifty with equipment purchases by carefully evaluating which items can be salvaged from retired fire engines, using a “trickle-down” effect from one older apparatus to the new one. However, the time has come when the majority of the equipment has reached the end of its life and needs replacing.