Fort Meade receives new fire trucks, but they're too big for the firehouse
Fort Meade officials have said for some time that the city is in desperate need of new fire engines.
One of the city’s current engines spends nearly as much time in the shop for repairs as available for use, City Manager Jan Bagnall said.
The good news for the city is that Fort Meade recently received delivery of two fire engines that had been ordered last year. The trucks are painted in the colors of Fort Meade High School, gold with black trim.
The less-happy news: The two new engines do not easily fit inside Fort Meade’s one fire station. Taller than the city’s current trucks, the engines can be backed into the fire house through the front door but do not fit under the rear opening, Bagnall said.
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As a result, Fort Meade is currently keeping the new trucks at its public works warehouse as it plans to modify or replace the fire station. The Florida Legislature allocated $750,000 in the budget passed this session to Fort Meade for a fire station, half the amount requested by Rep. Melony Bell, R-Fort Meade.
In her appropriations request, Bell wrote that a building inspector had found “significant issues associated with the current Fire House that make the current Fire House unable to be refurbished or fixed economically compared to the alternative of a new build Fire House.”
The budget also directs $1 million to Fort Meade for fire engines.
The city paid $1.12 million to Toyne Fire Apparatus of Iowa for the two engines. Bagnall said he approved the order last year shortly after the city received a letter from Bell promising money for fire trucks in 2023 budget.
Bagnall said a previous interim fire chief, whom he declined to name, failed to check the dimensions of the trucks against the clearance height of the fire station.
It is the latest issue involving Fort Meade’s fire department. The City Commission voted in May to give Bagnall a written reprimand after learning that he had signed an order for a fire truck without getting approval from commissioners, as required by city charter for any purchases above $25,000.
Bagnall said that he inadvertently signed the contract for the $642,000 order, thinking it was merely an order for a change to an existing contract. That engine likely won’t be delivered until next year, and Bagnall said the city won’t have to begin making payments until 2026.
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As of last week, the two new engines were being kept at Fort Meade’s public works warehouse. The trucks were parked side by side under a structure that is not enclosed.
“Covered spaces are used by fire departments for temporary storage, and the goal is to have the permanent storage/firehouse completed within a two year time frame,” Bagnall said by email. “Covered storage is not the ideal solution, but it does protect the assets until a permanent solution is completed.”
Bagnall said that the new fire trucks are not yet in use.
“Once we get a temporary structure completed and move some offices to enable our fire personnel to move we will put those new engines into service,” he said by email. “I expect that will be in approximately a month or two. Then we will be able to start the rehab of the old Firehouse. I expect that will take approximately one year.”
All fire personnel have completed training on the new engines, Bagnall said. Fort Meade has a volunteer fire department that is now headed by an interim fire chief, Matt Zahara.
Fort Meade Mayor James Watts said he welcomed the addition of the two fire engines.
“Oh, it's a great asset to Fort Meade,” he said. “We were at the point we needed to upgrade our equipment anyway. We were going to have to do it to stay certified.”
Asked about the tight clearance for the trucks inside the fire station, Watts said, “Somebody didn’t measure something.”
He added that he thought the city could “make it all work.”
Watts didn’t seem inclined to blame Bagnall for the issue.
“There’s a time that you have to trust the people that work for you,” Watts said. “But you do have a responsibility; if anything goes wrong, it always goes back to him. But you do have to have faith in your employees to do their jobs. Accidents and mistakes happen.”
Bagnall said Fort Meade has problems with its downtown fire station that go well beyond the tight fit of the new trucks. He said he ordered assessments of all city departments after being promoted to his position in 2021.
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A review of the Fire Department found that the station and equipment had not been properly maintained for years if not decades, Bagnall said. He gave the example of the station’s cascade system, which includes devices used to refill the air tanks in firefighters’ breathing apparatus.
The system had not received any maintenance since 2013 and broke down a few years ago, Bagnall said. Fort Meade has been relying upon Polk County's air-support truck.
“The station is not in good shape,” Bagnall said. “It has not also been maintained for possibly decades. And you have to have a solution for that. We do have a temporary solution, as well as we're working on a long-term solution for the firehouse. And that is going to be coming down to funding.”
Fort Meade is seeking guidance from the state on how the $750,000 allocation may be used to renovate the current firehouse, he said.
Bagnall recently spoke at a Polk County Commission meeting to seek $1 million for improvements to Fort Meade’s fire station. That request followed the county’s withdrawal of $6.5 million it had offered to help Fort Meade develop a long-planned equestrian center. County commissioners rejected the request.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fort Meade's new fire trucks bring relief but create storage challenge
