The Cosmopolis Fire Department took delivery on a new fire engine over the weekend, its first new fire apparatus in 32 years.
Fire Chief Cody Bridges and volunteer firefighters put a shine to the 2019 KME custom pumper at the station Sunday morning, with Mayor Kyle Pauley, former mayor Frank Chestnut, members of the Aberdeen Fire Department and others dropping by to check it out.
The department saved about $100,000 by purchasing this particular truck, a display model from Cascade Fire and Safety in Yakima, for a little more than $500,000, said Bridges. It also saved time: Bridges said a custom-ordered truck would be “450 days out,” and the one just purchased “is almost the same truck we spec’d out in the first place.”
The department’s aging fleet was in dire need of an upgrade. Bridges said before the new truck arrived, the department’s newest engine was a 1991 Grumman Mack. The new rig will allow the department to retire the yellow 1974 Grumman Mack engine, with its five-speed manual transmission, which will join the other five retired apparatus in the department’s Dennis York Fire Museum.
The new engine came ready to go. Bridges said the department may look at adding a foam delivery system down the road.
The City Council approved the initial purchase using fire equipment funds available in the city budget and adding a 2.5% fee to utility bills to fund the initial payments, said Pauley.
At its January meeting, the City Council approved placing a general obligation bond measure on the April 28 special election ballot. It would be a 10-year bond for $750,000, which would pay for the new engine and a new aid car, which is also in need of replacement, and possibly some other equipment needs.
The city provided a breakdown of the fire equipment bond proposal, which would require 60% yes vote to pass. The 10-year, $750,000 loan would have an interest rate of 4.5% and quarterly payments of $23,387.62. Total interest over 10 years would be $185,500 and change, with a total payment of just more than $935,500. Based on an average fair market value of $177,000, the average homeowner would see an annual increase of $26.84 in property taxes if the bond measure passes.
The need for the purchase, other than reliability, has to do with the city’s fire protection rating and its impacts on homeowner insurance. Every five years, Cosmopolis and all communities in the state have their fire services rated by the Washington Survey and Rating Bureau. These ratings are used by insurance companies to set their homeowner policy prices. Since the newest engine in Cosmopolis was nearing 30 years old, the city’s rating would drop, driving insurance premiums up in the district, fire officials say.
City Councilman Carl Sperring did some research on what the rating means to homeowners. Using his own property as an example, he said his own insurance premium would have gone up by about $100 a year, about four times the cost of the proposed bond measure.
DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Volunteer firefighters put a shine on the Cosmopolis Fire Department’s new engine at the station Sunday morning.
DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Cosmopolis firefighters pose with the department’s new fire engine, unveiled Sunday morning.
DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Cosmopolis Mayor Kyle Pauley, left, and Fire Chief Cody Bridges check out the interior of Cosi’s new fire engine.
DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Volunteer firefighters put a shine on the Cosmopolis Fire Department’s new engine at the station Sunday morning.
