Rio Dell Fire District Purchases New Fire Truck and Redistributes Resources to Cover Their Communities More Effectively

Engines 7135 and 7136

Rio Dell Fire District engines 7135 and 7136. [All photos by Lauren Johnson]

Last Friday, Rio Dell Fire Chief Shane Wilson (well-known locally for saving the life of a paraplegic man trapped by a house fire) and his crew celebrated the purchase of a new engine which allowed for the redistribution of resources to help outlying areas of their district.

“We are strongly considering the needs of our newly formed district and taking in the needs of our taxpayers in all areas,” he told us. He explained that when voters were asked to approve the spread of the Rio Dell Fire District to include Scotia, Redcrest, Shively, and surrounding areas in 2019, some people were doubtful and wanted to know ‘what kind of service would we really be able to provide?’

Wilson said that he hopes the new allocations show that “we have their best interest in mind…All four battalions are improving their response capabilities by just moving around some equipment.”

The new engine, 7136, is taking the place of 7135 in Rio Dell and will be used to go on larger fires where the department is paid for their assistance by Cal Fire as well as provide excellent response to the Rio Dell/Scotia immediate area quickly. In turn, Wilson explained, 7135 which was just purchased in 2016 and is still being paid for will be moved to Redcrest.

Previously, Redcrest, Wilson told us, had three vehicles that served different purposes but the firefighters there would have to make a guess from their dispatch on a call which would be best suited to respond. Now, with 7135, they won’t have to guess, they’ll have a good all round response engine.

“Before, it was kind of a hope that you would get the right truck,” he explained. “When we annexed them, we identified that as critical. My goal was to get them one apparatus that responds to everything.”

And now the other vehicles from Redcrest will be reallocated to other areas. “We are going to move their wildland vehicle, attack 7147, and it is going to go out to Shively and replace their very old vehicle there,” Wilson said.

Then Redcrest’s engine, 7116, will be repositioned to where it is more effective. Wilson explained, “It was more of a commercial response [engine]. We’re going to move that engine to Rio Dell. It will be a combo residential and structure fire response including for the sawmill in Scotia.”

The third vehicle will go to help the tech rescue team that covers an area much greater than Rio Dell’s Fire District. “The vehicle that is remaining,” Wilson explained, “the plan is to make that into our tech rescue and will assist the Eel River Valley Tech Rescue Team.”Rio Dell Fire District engines 7135 and 7136. [All photos by Lauren Johnson]

Wilson worries, “It doesn’t look great on paper when you look at the cost [of the new engine]. It was a significant price jump from the very similar [7135] which was only $400,000…The price of everything has risen so dramatically with COVID. We were advised if we were to wait another year it would cost near a million dollars.” So they purchased 7136 for $600,000 and for one year the fire district will not only be making payments on the new engine but still paying for the older 7135.

Wilson though says 7136 will be able to perform “dual roles as a wildland fire and an urban interface” fire engine which makes it suited for their work with Cal Fire. The fire team made the decision to reduce the seating to four from five but add extra storage. This helps when the crews are hired to work out of the area for Cal Fire. The money brought in from that work is used to pay for equipment and other needs that benefit the local communities.

In the end, all the vehicles will be available to help whichever area in the Rio Dell Fire District needs it but, the new engine allows for repositioning equipment so that response times are minimized and the proper equipment is available for use as quickly as possible.

Rio Dell Fire District engines 7135 and 7136. [All photos by Lauren Johnson]

Rio Dell Fire District [Photo by Lauren Johnson]

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5 Comments
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Steve Koch
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Steve Koch
10 months ago

Glad to see that the tax money for the expanded Rio Dell Fire District fire is being spent on fire fighting equipment.

RioDellResident
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RioDellResident
10 months ago

Maybe they should use some of that money to actually pay the volunteer firefighters

Sky PilotD
Member
10 months ago

Then they would no longer be volunteers would they ??

Lewy
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Lewy
10 months ago

When you call the police do you hope they call out a posse? Or would you like to have paid professionals on duty?

Ice
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Ice
10 months ago

They will get paid as EFF when they go out on CDF wildland fires.