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Mayor Jon Mitchell joined with Fire Chief Michael Gomes at a press conference in front of City Hall today to announce important equipment upgrades for the New Bedford Fire Department. The City has acquired two brand new, custom-built fire engines that will replace two twenty-five year-old apparatus in the Fire Department’s fleet.
“My administration has been working diligently to prioritize and address long-term equipment and facilities needs. I am pleased that these new fire engines will allow the City to retire two twenty-five year old apparatus – upgrades that are long overdue,” said Mayor Mitchell.
“The development of a long rang capital plan by our Chief Financial Officer has ensured that New Bedford is able to make critical acquisitions at a cost that remains affordable for taxpayers,” he continued.
The two new engines are Pierce Arrow XT 1,500 gallons-per-minute pumpers, with significantly more capacity than the 1,250 gallons-per-minute pumpers they will replace. The new apparatus are technologically advanced and the most corrosion resistant fire equipment that the City has ever owned.
Engine #1 will be stationed at the Main Fire Station (868 Pleasant Street) and Engine # 7 will be stationed at Fire Station # 7 (700 Cottage Street). Chief Gomes said these engine companies see the highest frequency of calls for service. The new engines will allow the City to retire two reserve pumpers which originally entered service in 1989. The new apparatus will reduce the average age of Fire Department’s ten front-line apparatus from 11 years of service to 8.8 years.
“These are the first engines the City has purchased since 2008 and they are a welcome addition to the Fire Department’s fleet. Not only will this new equipment improve our response capabilities as a department, but it is a wise, long-term investment on the part of the City in protecting the public safety of this community,” said Chief Michael Gomes.
Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services equipment and vehicles were identified as top funding priorities for the City of New Bedford in the FY2014-2018 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The CIP is the City’s first long-term plan developed to address the facilities and equipment needs of city government. Mayor Mitchell directed the Chief Financial Officer to develop the Plan and it was publically released in the fall of 2013.
The CIP was designed to ensure that the highest priority projects, like public safety vehicles, receive public funding in a manner that is in keeping with the City’s ability to pay. Through the efforts of City financial officials, New Bedford was able to finance the two vehicles at a very favorable interest rate which minimized their impact on the City budget.
“We were able to structure these purchases so that the annual impact was relatively minimal and well within the apparatus’ expected service life, thereby making the purchases affordable in terms of our annual budget,” said Ari Sky, Chief Financial Officer.
