Quote:At its meeting on March 26, 2009, the Austin City Council took the following action as part of its consent agenda:

Authorize award and execution of a contract for the purchase of one pumper and two brush pumper fire trucks for the Austin Fire Department. One pumper and one brush truck will be assigned to the new fire station serving the Avery area. One brush truck will be assigned to the fire station serving the Del Valle area. In line with Austin Climate Protection Program goals, these fire trucks are equipped with engines capable of burning biodiesel fuel.

Quote:This contract is for the purchase two new brush and one new pumper fire trucks manufactured by Siddons Manufacturing that will be assigned to the Austin Fire Department. The pumper truck is equipped with a standard foam system, 750 gallon water tank, 1500 gallon per minute fire pump, and assorted firefighting tools, hose and equipment. The pumper truck includes a 4-door custom-built crew cab with a fire pumper body capable of carrying a maximum of six firefighters. The pumper is capable of pumping water from either a fire hydrant or its own on-board water tank. The two brush trucks will be built according to National Wildfire Coordinating Group, Type V specifications and will meet current National Fire Protection Association standards. These trucks are equipped with a 4x4 crew cab chassis that is capable of seating at least four fire fighters inside the cab, a 400-gallon water tank with a standard foam pumping system, a 250 gallons per minute pump, tools, hose, and equipment specific to wildland firefighting. These trucks will be used in various capacities depending on the size and nature of the fire. One pumper and one brush truck will be assigned to the new Fire Station 45 serving the Avery area. One brush truck will be assigned to Fire Station 42 serving the Del Valle area. These are new vehicles to the City's fire fighting fleet and have an expected use of 15 years before replacement.



These fire trucks are equipped with engines capable of burning biodiesel (B20) fuel. B20 is a blend of 20% bio-material and 80% petro-diesel. In line with Austin Climate Protection Program goals, B20 provides an approximate reduction of 25% of greenhouse gas emissions versus using gasoline, and an approximate reduction of 5% of greenhouse gas emissions versus using petro-diesel. The onboard pump engines for the brush trucks also operate on B20.



Siddons Fire Apparatus, Inc is under contract with BuyBoard to supply various types of fire fighting vehicles statewide as a result of a competitive bidding process. Utilizing the BuyBoard contract provides for volume discount pricing as well as the earliest opportunity to get the City’s equipment on order.