Vernonia RFPD

Columbia County
Request: $35,000

Vernonia Fire lacks a second 4x4 small fire engine. With high-density forest areas, small, narrow driveways and many off-road areas, having a means to get firefighting equipment and water to a forest fire is crucial. A new 4WD "Type 6" fire engine costs around $300,000. For $35,000, we can convert a 10-year old truck into a small fire engine for rapid response. Our current wildland response rig is 23 years old. The pickup truck we wish to convert is 10 years old. We believe it will serve us another 10 years as a wildland/ quick-response vehicle, should our grant request is successful. Having two wildland rigs also offers the opportunity to provide emergency response statewide, should a conflagration be declared. I have attached three reference pictures. The first is a recent post made by another fire department in Oregon showing costs of new rigs. The second picture shows the actual Vernonia Fire pickup which we would convert and the third image shows what the conversion would look like. Thank you for your consideration.