Fire truck bids being gathered

The Spokane Valley Fire Department solicited new bids this week for a pumper-rescue truck that was $61,000 over budget in a previous round of bidding.

Earlier this month, commissioners of the independent fire district rejected a $541,008 bid from Seagrave Fire Apparatus of Clintonville, Wis. It was the only bid received.

The new bids are to be opened April 6.

Chief Mike Thompson said the district paid about $425,000 when it bought the same kind of truck two years ago.

“We expected an increase in cost, but not to that degree,” Thompson said, noting the district had budgeted $480,000, including equipment.

He said district officials hoped to get a discount by holding out a possibility the district would buy up to two more trucks in the next two years from this year’s successful bidder.

Along with inflation, two new standards that took effect in January had been expected to drive up prices. Thompson said fire trucks now are required to have better emission-control systems and to have onboard data recorders similar to the “black boxes” that help investigators determine the cause when an airliner crashes.

The fire truck recorders monitor time of day, speed, acceleration, deceleration, engine speed, throttle position, antilock braking, which seats are occupied, whether seatbelts are used and whether flashing lights are activated.

Department officials don’t have to wait for a crash to review the data, but Thompson said he already can use GPS systems in onboard computers to see how fire trucks are being driven.