City considers changing fire truck models

More and more of the Tecumseh Fire Department’s calls are for medical emergencies compared to fires.

Along with the increase in medical calls, when the department is dispatched to a fire, it has less need for tanker trucks due to mutual aid from neighboring departments.

Because of that, city officials are considering changing the kinds of fire trucks the city buys and the replacement schedule. Tecumseh Fire Chief Scot Long and City Manager Dan Swallow gave their recommendation on an updated apparatus replacement schedule to the city council during a study session Monday at the fire station.

With the fire department’s trucks as a backdrop in the engine bay, Long explained that when the department buys its next engine, he would like it to be a pumper-rescue like the department’s current Engine 1 as opposed to a pumper-tanker like Engine 6. A pumper-rescue is outfitted to both serve as a pumper at fires but also carry all the rescue equipment they might need for calls such as medical emergencies and car crashes. A tanker is outfitted with a tank that holds 2,000 gallons or more of water for use in areas that don’t have hydrants. Pumpers also have a smaller water tank so that firefighters don’t have to hook up to a hydrant if a fire is small.

Since Engine 1 went into service in 2016, the department’s calls for service have almost doubled. In 2024, there 1,320 calls, which was down from 1,547 in 2023 and 1,473 in 2022, according to department reports. With Engine 1 making the bulk of those runs, its mileage is starting to rack up, Long said. Also, about 150 of those calls overlapped, meaning Engine 1 had to go from one call directly to the next. Having a second rescue-pumper could spread out those calls.

During the presentation, a medical call came in and the on-call firefighters headed out in Engine 1.

Under the current schedule, Engine 6 is to be replaced next. Long said it is only really needed for calls to Tecumseh Township, which does not have a municipal water system. The township has a contract with the city for fire and rescue services rather than having its own fire department. He said the typical fire department dispatch to a structure fire in the city or Tecumseh Township where smoke or flames are visible is Tecumseh’s Engine 1, Engine 6 and Truck 3, which is the one-year-old ladder truck, along with an engine from Ridgeway Township, two tankers from Clinton and one tanker from Raisin Township through the county’s mutual aid agreement. Additional alarms bring more engines and tankers from other nearby communities.

Meanwhile, if Tecumseh is called to a fire in a neighboring community, Long said, its ladder truck is what is usually needed, even for residential fires, because the townships have tankers. No other fire department in the northeast part of Lenawee County has a ladder truck.

With neighboring communities relying on Tecumseh for its ladder truck, Long said, it’s time for the city to rely on the other departments for tankers.

Instead of replacing Engine 6 with another pumper-tanker in 2027 as planned, Long said, he would prefer to sell the department’s 23-year-old ladder truck, which has better resale value, to help pay for buying a new pumper-rescue. A pumper-rescue also would cost about $500,000 less than a pumper-tanker.

The prices for fire engines have grown much faster than the rate of inflation. The 23-year-old ladder truck cost about $500,000 new. The ladder truck the city put into service in January 2024 cost just over $1 million. A new, similar ladder truck would cost about $1.5 million now.

With a prepayment discount, a new Pierce Manufacturing pumper-rescue from Halt Fire Inc. of Wixom would cost about $845,000, Long said.

The fire department has each truck on a 20-year replacement schedule. Long said under the updated replacement schedule, Engine 1 would be replaced in 2036 instead of 2031, and the 2024 ladder truck would be replaced in 2043.

An issue that will have to be addressed with Tecumseh Township is the cost of the contract, which has not kept up with the department’s operating costs. Long said under the current contract the township pays the city $90,000 a year. That amount was determined by calculating the percentage of calls for service that come from township residents and businesses each year compared to the department’s overall budget. The contract also has a 5% increase each year.

The last contract was agreed to before the COVID-19 pandemic drove up the department’s annual costs faster than expected, Swallow said.

Long said he believes Tecumseh Township’s board would understand a cost increase, but that the city should have that conversation with the township board before making a decision on the apparatus replacement schedule.

Because it takes 24 months or more to get a new engine after it’s been ordered, Long recommended ordering a new pumper-rescue during the 2025-26 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

To pay for a new pumper-rescue, Swallow recommended financing it over five years rather than paying for all of it up front from the city’s savings. He said the interest costs would be about the same as the discount for prepayment to Halt. Long said the timing would work out so that the first payment for a new engine would start right after the last payment on Engine 1 was made.

Tags: Fire Truck, City, Fire Department

Caption:Tecumseh City Council members hear a presentation from Fire Chief Scot Long, top center, and City Manager Dan Swallow, upper right, on their proposed changes to the kinds of fire engines the city buys and the replacement schedule during a study session Monday, June 2, 2025, at the fire station.