The Polson Rural Fire Department was able to purchase a new truck with money raised with a mill levy, but the truck doesn’t have all the equipment it needs.
The Polson Rural Fire Department still needs quite a few parts.
“There’s still just the miscellaneous things that you have to have for a fire truck. And there’s quite a few on a fire truck,” said Safety Officer Captain Drew Hoel.
Some items they need include a pump, tank and lettering. The total estimated cost to outfit the truck is about $15,000 to $20,000. Fire officials say it’s cheaper to buy a truck without the equipment.
“If we buy a piece of equipment that’s already fully finished, (it would) cost a lot more money. So if we buy a truck and then have it built ourselves — one, it’s built the way we need it for our personal district and two, it saves the taxpayers thousands of dollars,” said Hoel.
The fire department has needed a new truck for a while. Their other truck is more than 20 years old. The new truck is bigger than their other truck and it will be able to fight both wildland fires and structure fires.
The new truck will support areas beyond Lake County.
For more information, view nbcmontana.com
