Fire Department Chief Dan Phillips joins Tim Keirnan for a discussion about designing a new fire engine for Plymouth Township, Michigan. How does our fire department decide which features are most needed, most wanted, and affordable for a given budget and for the engine’s coverage area?

Unlike most passenger cars, a new fire engine is custom built and takes ten months to deliver. Their cost is over half a million US$. The pressure is on a department to get it right, because the service life of a fire engine is 15 years active duty and 5 additional years in reserve. The new engine must balance multiple goals:
* Provide safety for the township citizens and their property
* Provide safety of the firefighters who use the truck every day
* Provide good financial stewardship of our public funds

You can see our Public Safety Committee’s short documentary videos on the obsolete current fire engines at
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClTidKC6ZDUJVLoWedD5_gA

Our first new fire engine is a Pierce Enforcer. Check out Pierce’s website for the Enforcer and other fire engine details:
https://www.piercemfg.com/

Thank-you to the men and women working in fire departments everywhere.

Listen Now