The Chappell Hill VFD is proud to introduce our community to a new truck that has joined our fleet. But before we dive into this, we want to share the journey that led us here. Our department, covering a 100-square-mile district, is known for its swift response to emergencies. Our volunteers, the backbone of our operations, demonstrate unwavering dedication, compassion, passion, understanding, bravery, commitment, and love in every call they respond to. Their selfless service, without any financial reward, is a true testament to their passion for the job and their love for the community.
Here's a little story about how our department purchased this new fire engine.
On Christmas Eve of 2022, our department was dispatched to the county's west side to help our brothers and sisters in another fire district fight a structure fire. While our firefighters were arriving on the scene, the fire engine had a major critical failure that made the truck undrivable. The truck was immediately towed to a certified mechanic shop for a comprehensive evaluation. After a thorough inspection, the shop informed us that the engine needed to be replaced for the truck to be operational again. The department, unwavering in our commitment to maintaining our equipment, allowed the shop to conduct a detailed examination and replace the engine, incurring a repair cost of about $35,000.
During the repair period, the department took proactive steps to ensure uninterrupted service to our community. We arranged to rent a fire engine, allowing us to continue our operations while our engine was being restored to full functionality. This incurred an additional cost of $14,500 to the department. Once the truck was back in service, the department reached out to the Washington County Commissioners through the Washington County Firefighters Association to seek financial assistance in covering the repair costs of the fire engine. We are deeply grateful for the support of our community, as the Washington County Commissioners voted to help with those costs and covered the repair bill.
Since the truck was fixed and returned to service, even with preventative maintenance, it was costing thousands of dollars to maintain. In early August 2024, that fire engine was on a motor vehicle accident scene, providing safety for emergency personnel. The Chappell Hill VFD was released from the scene and started returning to the station. It began running at a very high temperature while it was headed back to the station. It was limped to the station, and before pulling into it, it began to have heavy steam and smoke pouring out of the engine compartment. Firefighters quickly turned off the engine and began cooling the engine with water in the wash bay. After an evaluation, it was found that a coolant hose had blown and burned up all of the oil in the engine. Firefighters fixed the hose with guidance from a local mechanic and filled it with oil and coolant. The truck was taken to another local mechanic to be evaluated. The coolant and oil systems were assessed, and they seemed to be in working order. While returning to the station, it had a critical failure and had to be limped to an international repair shop in Brenham.
After evaluating the truck, the local repair shop called upon an International mechanic who worked on these types of vehicles. The truck was inspected with a fine-tooth comb, and minor repairs were made, thinking that would fix the truck, but with no success. After talking with that repair shop, the CHVFD showed no timely signs of the truck being repairable or operational. The department had ordered a rental truck to be used at the direction of the Washington County Commissioners for about two weeks to give the repair shop more time to look over the truck. The department was sent daily updates and had no hope for the fire engine being returned to service soon.
CHVFD had a business meeting and discussed the fire engine and the department's situation. After a lengthy discussion, the department voted to sell the fire engine and replace it with a used one. During this time, CHVFD found a truck that had yet to hit the used market and was told the truck would be going for an excellent rate. The department obtained five different quotes for financing a used truck and held a special session meeting. Approximately 95% of the members attended and voted to finance the new truck. Of that vote, there was not a single no in the room because a working fire engine was needed to continue providing fire service to the community. The new fire engine was priced at $365,000 versus a brand-new one that would not have been affordable.
This new truck is a 2015 Pierce Velocity. It was previously used at the Spring Fire Department right outside of Houston. This truck holds about 750 gallons, has foam capabilities, and can seat 6 firefighters at one time responding to an incident. With this fire engine being a 2015, it still falls within the NFPA standards for an in-service fire engine age. The department would like the community to know that the cost of the fire service is growing at a rate that is hard for some to understand. We understand the burden that is placed on taxpayers in this community. Our organization is always trying to use donations and money from fundraisers in the best possible way. This type of cost we are incurring is not because we want it or because it is "big and shiny," We know that our community deserves the best and the newest equipment possible so we can serve you as best as we can without any problems. We are asking for community support and donations to keep our department running as best as possible.
If you want to see the new fire engine, please contact us or catch us at any community event we will be attending. We are happy to give our community a tour of this new apparatus we have added to our fleet. If you have any questions, please contact us via Facebook or our website, and we will do our best to get back to you! Thank you, and enjoy the pictures! Some pictures include stickers from the previous owners.
If you would like to make a donation, please click on the link below!
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