BARRHEAD – Town of Barrhead councillors passed a motion at their Aug. 22 meeting approving the donation of a 1998 fire truck to the Grande Prairie Rotary Club, which will deliver it to a Mexico fire department.
In his report to council, chief administrative officer Ed LeBlanc said the 1998 truck was replaced in 2020 with a Fort Gary single-axle unit because the older unit had reached the end of its 20-year lifespan despite only having 27,800 (or 44,740 kilometres) on it.
LeBlanc noted in his report that emergency apparatus that are 15 years of age or older generally do not meet newer safety standards but upgrading them is also not a sound strategy due to significant costs and engineering restrictions, as well as the possibility they might fail during emergency situations.
LeBlanc said the idea had been to eventually convert the 1998 unit into a community events vehicle that could be rolled out during the Barrhead Blue Heron Fair parade or similar events. As such, it had been parked for a number of years.
However, council had instead elected to allocate some funds to repair a 1933 single-axle unit currently stored at the Centennial Museum and turn it into a community vehicle.
LeBlanc said the brakes for the 1933 vehicle have been repaired, although the master cylinder still needs some work. Still, once that work is done, the 1998 unit effectively becomes surplus.
Each year, the Rotary Clubs in Grande Prairie, Edson and other communities take part in an annual “Highway to Mexico” project in which fire trucks, ambulances and buses are driven down and donated to groups in need at Mazatlån, a major city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
As noted on the Edson Rotary Club’s webpage, Mazatlån has a population of 700,000 and many of its citizens, schools and local fire departments are in need of assistance.
If the Town of Barrhead donated the 1998 fire truck to the Rotary Club, they would pick it up as is and take on the responsibility of transporting it down to Mexico.
Alternatively, council could choose to sell the unit at a public auction, which would garner in the neighbourhood of $3,500 in revenue, LeBlanc indicated.
Noting that his niece’s husband is with a Rotary Club and has driven vehicles down to Belize, Coun. Rod Klumph spoke in favour of the donation.
“This is a specialty unit made for a certain purpose, and it would be good if it could be used again,” said Klumph, adding that it could be very useful to a fire department that can’t afford a similar unit.
Other councillors agreed with the idea, though Coun. Don Smith said it would be nice to receive an indication of where the truck ends up, perhaps along with a picture of the unit at its new home.
