News Release
On September 28, 2020, Kneehill County region's fire services were further enhanced with the delivery of four brand new fire trucks to the fire halls in the Town of Trochu, Village of Carbon, Village of Acme, and Hamlet of Torrington. The engines will be fully operational and in service within the next couple of weeks.
Prior to 2020, Kneehill Countyowned 100% of these engines through a Master Fire Agreement between all municipalities. The fire engines were previously funded solely through Kneehill County’s Capital Equipment Replacement Plan, which considered the replacement schedule of 20 years for a fire automotive apparatus, determined by Fire Underwriters and considered in fire insurance rate calculations.
In 2020, through the new Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework Agreements, each municipality is now a proportionate owner of most engines in the region.
“Fire protection is so important, and we are so pleased to partner with our neighbouring municipalities to provide these enhanced fire services to our residents,” said Kneehill County Reeve, Jerry Wittstock, “Special thanks to our local fire chiefs and volunteer firefighters for your continued dedication to our residents, and for working together to make this possible.”
Originally, only the Torrington and Carbon fire trucks were slated for replacement in 2019, however, an incident in 2018 required the Trochu fire engine to be replaced ahead of schedule. Considering the length of build times, and with three new fire engines already up for renewal, Kneehill County Council added the Acme fire engine to the Capital Budget to consolidate the purchases. The Acme fire engine was due for replacement in 2021.
Bulk purchasing all four fire trucks at the same time allowed for significant cost savings. The final cost of the trucks came to just over $2 million dollars, and they will be in service for the next twenty years.
The fire chiefs for each municipality collaborated on the build to determine the specifics for each unit. Trochu and Carbon trucks are side-pump mounts with extended cabs for personnel transport, and the Acme and Torrington trucks are top pump mounts, which are also enclosed.
All of the engines purchased have a water haul capacity and pumping capacity specially designed with rural firefighting in mind.
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For more information, please contact Kneehill County, 403-443-5541.
