MILLS, Wyo. — The Mills Fire Department will soon be adding another truck to its fleet after the city purchased a pumper truck that should be ready for use by the department by mid-November.
Fire Chief Wil Gay said the department has been in serious need of a new truck since February, when a drastic cold snap put the department’s frontline pumper out of commission and caused damage to the reserve pumper as well. Even before that, though, the city had been looking to update the fire department’s vehicles.
“One of our trucks was from the 1980s and the other one was about 20 years old itself,” Gay said. “We’d been looking to get a new truck for a while.”
“It’s important to us to provide brand-new, top-of-the-line equipment to the fire department,” Mills Mayor Seth Coleman added. “This opportunity came along and will be a great benefit to the city.”
Down a pumper, the city resorted to using a fire truck loaned by the Bar Nunn Fire Department, Gay added.
The truck was purchased for $600,000 through a program that allows departments to buy vehicles that have previously been used only as a stock model at a reduced cost. While the truck cost $600,000 and additions and upgrades will add another $30,000–$40,000, Gay said the cost of an entirely new truck would be in the millions of dollars.
The truck has a 750-gallon tank, though the chief added that the size of the tank isn’t expected to be much of an issue given the number of hydrants throughout Mills.
The truck won’t be ready for use until mid-November, as the vehicle still needs to have several additions made to it and the details need to be finalized. However, when it is ready for Mills firefighters to use, it will bring the department’s fleet up to six vehicles, including two brush vehicles and two structure vehicles.
