Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District has received shipment of a used 2011 Chevrolet Duramax ambulance and ordered a new four-wheel drive ambulance.
The used ambulance cost about $58,000 and has 41,000 miles. It joins a fleet of four ambulances, two of which have more than 170,000 miles on them, and one that has nearly 150,000 miles. The fourth is a 1996 four-wheel drive unit with a small box used to respond to calls in the mountains. It has about 49,000 miles.
One of the highest mileage ambulances will replace a 1989 ambulance used as a “squad vehicle” to carry rescue gear, said Fire Chief Dave Barringer.
The fire department will continue to run the higher-mileage ambulances before moving the newest to first-out status, Barringer said.
The department has moved forward with the purchase of a new four-wheel-drive ambulance using a $100,000 donation from a local individual who wanted to remain anonymous.
The new four-wheel drive will replace that ambulance and be useful during the winter when elevation changes can take medics in and out of snow zones.
Barringer said he talked to the district board and said, “We need to buy what the individual asked for.”
The board put the donation toward the build, he said, and the district will need to find another $60,000 to finish paying for the ambulance, either by budgeting or financing the money.
The ambulance, a Ford F450 with a Braun Northwest box, will be complete in August, Barringer said. “By the time that one gets here, we’ll have killed (worn out) one of these rigs.”