Anonymous
Source: Santa Barbara County Fire Department
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department is pleased to announce the delivery of six new Type 1 fire engines. The new engines will provide updated technology advancements, safety systems and service to the citizens of Santa Barbara County.
The engines have been tailored to meet the specific needs of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. Crews will receive specialized training on the new engines, after which the engines will be placed in service.
This rollout continues our commitment to the modernization of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department firefighting fleet.
Stations receiving new engines include Fire Station 12 (5330 Calle Real, Goleta), Station 13 (4570 Hollister Ave, Santa Barbara), Station 21 (335 Union Ave, Orcutt), Station 26 (1596 Tiffany Park Ct, Orcutt), Station 27 (41 Newsome St, New Cuyama) and Station 32 (906 Airport Rd, Santa Ynez).
Does anyone care how much these rigs cost?
Notdave: Of course we care. Do you have a point to make or are you just a provocateur? It would be helpful if you could tell us if you think the cost is too much, too little, well needed, helpful to the community, etc. In fact do you have any information on the cost? Do you know if the old units were worn out? seesh!
You won’t care if your life is on the line.
How many fires have we had in the past 10 years? And that’s not including homeless camp fires… I’d say regardless of cost, its worth it.
If you’re just asking because you’re curious, then I’d say they’re probably in the $150k range each (https://www.fentonfire.com/blog/fire-truck-cost/)
However, something tells me you’re just a provocateur, as was stated before. If so, well…. having fun being snarky?
Being critical or even just trolling about new fire trucks in this area? In this era? Or any part of the USA?
I cannot give any seriousness to this post. Was gonna say you’re acting a fool, but that may get me deleted.
In case you don’t know, search “California fires” and also look into prairie/grass land fires, like the December Marshall Fire in Colorado. https://earthdata.nasa.gov/worldview/worldview-image-archive/marshall-fire-colorado
Since it is taxpayer funds I do think the article could include more information such as the age of the units replaced or what the new technology affords. Too vague to embrace or criticize..,,
Fire engines start @550k. Ours are probably 750k to 1 million each. This is a cost that is negligible compared to savings lives and preventing property damage. We spent 13 million dollars on 33 county employees last year at a resounding 380k per employee including benefits. Our county CEO gets around 310k + 130k in benefits per year. Most people don’t even know that we have a county CEO. Mona Miyasoto is our county CEO and I’m sure she does a good job but at over 400k per year one should ask if it’s actually money well spent? Also, the Board of Supervisors benefit every time they give a top county employee a raise because it only helps them in the long run for personal salary increases. We also know as history has shown us the Board of Supervisors approve salary increases every time they possibly can. I would much rather have new fire engines with the best technology to help people in need. That’s money well spent in my opinion.
Coastwatch…hate to tell you but all of these engines are diesel, 1800-2300rpm. High rpm would be like an Indy car, 12,000 rpm or over 5,000-6,000 for my old Ford Ranger.
Rubiyat has a point. The fire department is a first responder charged with fighting fires. Nevertheless the respond to medical calls enthusiastically. We have EMR people for that. Their vehicles are more nimble and a lot cheaper to operate. Why the fire dept does what it does is of interest, rumor is that they get some sort of economic benefit if they rack up calls. Is this so?
People have to realize that fire apparatus have a 20-25 year span of service. These vehicle weigh 35000 lbs or more, are responding to EVERY call for service including all medical calls and are driven HARD- from cold starts to high rpm’s everyday and night….
Did we need new ones-who figured that out? a county employee hired to figure out life depreciation on a fire truck -they have their own mechanics that keep them in tip top shape -the old ones looked brand new-seems like the city buys new public works truck annually(the old trucks don’t even get permanent plates before there replaced)- we need to tighten the budget -the spending is an absolute joke -if this were the private sector of course there would be very few companies buying new trucks every couple years and they would be outta business because of misspending in a couple years that’s how they run our City and County -dont figure(you don’t have to -just raise the taxes)
They seem to follow every ambulance run at great expense. How often are they really needed?
Hey Notreal, get real and does it matter? It would be like asking how much the machine was in the ER that saved your life and was it a good purchase. GO OUTSIDE, find a nice place and worry about where money is being spent other places. If you want to track poor county spending then do some research on there roads department, they you might find something to complain about. How much to they cost?…Really?
Hey Rubaiyat, they are the “first responders” then police and an ambulance. Kinda been the same way they always respond for like over the last 80 + years…
4:14 has no clue. They are needed about half they time and most are EMTs with the special equipment which is why they are being upgraded. Have you ever heard of CPR, Fire is first on the scene well over half the time saving lives before AMR ever gets there.