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New truck improves functionality

The Golden Fire Department has a new Rosenbauer Ford F-550 response truck coming their way, which will replace two vehicles the department has been using.
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The Golden Fire Department has a new Rosenbauer Ford F-550 response truck coming their way, which will replace two vehicles the department has been using.

Fire Chief Dave Balding took a staff report to Town of Golden council on May 15 requesting an additional capital expenditure on the truck of $21,580, bringing the total cost of the new truck up to $185,444. Council authorized the additional cost.

“That essentially went back to council because we’re granted the money to spend through council,” Balding said. “Through refining the build of the truck and designing of it, some alterations came up and those proposed alterations came with some credits and some expenses.”

The Chief went back to council with a staff report requesting the extra funds, and council approved the expenditure.

The truck is now being built. The cab and chassis are in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the plant, and the body is being welded together and fabricated. The body of the truck is the part that contains customized cabinets and storage. Delivery of the truck is expected later this year.

“It’s pretty exciting because that truck is going to replace two vehicles, a 1994 ambulance and a 10-year-old pickup truck,” Balding said.

The pickup truck currently responds to medical calls, and resides at the back of the fire hall with access out the rear of the building.

“It isn’t well configured because it doesn’t have storage. It’s a pickup truck with a canopy. It goes to medical calls, but there’s stuff sitting on the back seat because there’s no compartments because it is not purpose built,” Balding explained. “Those two vehicles are going away.”

The ambulance remains parked outside, because space inside the fire hall is limited.

“We won’t have to have the ambulance living outdoors. All our apparatus will be inside,” he said. “This new vehicle will respond to medical calls and confine space.”

The new vehicle will also have the capacity to attend wildfires in the area if needed because it will have four-wheel drive, and the ability to handle rough roads.

“It will be quite nimble compared to the larger trucks,” he said, adding that it will be a five-ton truck, which are “very commonly used in emergency services.”

The commercial truck is built by Ford, and the body is being built and installed onto the F-550.

“The fire hall is getting smaller,” Balding said about the limited space the hall has to store trucks and equipment.

The new truck will be longer than the white pickup truck the department currently uses, but it is being custom built to fit inside of the hall with the other vehicles.

“That was one of the design criteria, is there was a maximum length attached to the truck so that we could ensure we can get it in and close the door,” Balding said. “There will be room to walk, front and back.”

Currently, four large trucks are parked inside the fire hall regularly, plus the white pickup truck that is being replaced. The fire hall has two entrances for the trucks to go in and out of, and the new truck will remain parked at the back for ease of access.