By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City council members have approved the purchase of a $2.5 million ladder truck that will be custom-built for the Del Rio Fire Department.
The council during its Nov. 19 meeting approved a resolution authorizing the city manager “to approve the purchase of one Pierce-Custom Enforcer Platform-100-foot mid-mount apparatus ladder truck from Siddons-Martin Emergency Group, LLC, through Houston-Galveston Area Council of Governments. . . in the amount of $2,519,319 for the city of Del Rio Fire Department.”
After City Secretary Mari Acosta read the heading of the agenda item, Mayor Al Arreola called for a motion.
Councilman J.P. Sanchez made the motion to approve the resolution, and Councilwoman Ernestina “Tina” Martinez gave the second.
Arreola asked if there were any questions for Assistant Finance Director Roxy Soto or DRFD Chief David Harrison.
Sanchez asked, “It’s going to take a number of years to get here, correct? Four? Did I read four (years)?”
“Yes, sir,” Harrison replied from his seat in the audience.
“Well, I might not be one the council, but I’d like to go on a ride on that thing when you get it,” Sanchez said.
“He can play Santa Claus on it,” Arreola joked.
He then asked if there were any other questions from the council, then asked Soto, “We’ve already budgeted (for it), right?”
Soto replied, “So this is an approval for the city council to approve the purchase order so that we can be in queue to receive this item with the anticipation that we will be going out for equipment financing in (Fiscal Year) 2027-2028. So we’ll start making the payments in Fiscal Year 2027-2028. We won’t make any payments until we receive the equipment.”
In an informational memo included in the council’s packet, City Purchasing Agent Luis Menchaca wrote, “The city of Del Rio Fire Department has four stations throughout the city. Each station requires one fire truck at all times in order to serve the city of Del Rio and its surrounding areas in case of an emergency. This leaves one spare truck that is used when one of the other trucks is receiving preventive maintenance or if one of the fire trucks is out of service.
“If for any reason, one truck is down, preventive maintenance has to be delayed for the entire fleet until the issue is fixed, since there can only be one truck down at a time. At this time the fire department has a ladder truck, Unit 437, that is over 20 years old and is well past its front-line response life, according to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards,” Menchaca wrote.
He also noted that during the last Insurance Service Office (ISO) inspection, the fire department “was not awarded full points for their lack in capabilities with the current ladder truck.”
“The two main issues identified were the lack of reserve ladder truck and the age of the front-line response unit,” Menchaca wrote.
The purchasing agent also noted, “Due to recent real estate developments in the area, including a multitude of new multi-story hotels being constructed in the city, ISO now requires that a ladder truck respond to all structure fires within the city of Del Rio. Due to this requirement, the need to keep a pumper or ladder truck in service while other units receive maintenance has made it difficult to retire any of the older units,” Menchaca wrote.
Menchaca also wrote that the anticipated build time for the new truck is 40 to 48 months, so the city’s ladder truck will be 25 years old by the time the new truck is delivered. He also noted the truck being purchased will have a longer ladder than the truck the city currently has, allowing firefighters to reach the taller buildings that are being constructed in the city.
The council then voted unanimously to approve Sanchez’s motion.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
