In-house building of brush truck fleet

About the Program

Category: Financial Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

In 2010, Brevard County Fire Rescue (BCFR) identified the need to replace its aging brush truck fleet. This coincided with a time when the nationwide economic recession caused operating revenues to decline due to depressed property values. The department of about 800 people serves a population of about 550,000 spread across the 72-mile-long county in East Central Florida. Since Brevard County is home to many nature preserves and given the department’s auto-aid and mutual-aid agreements with cities, the state and the federal government — which manages the 140,000-acre Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge—BCFR’s brush trucks need to be ready to roll at a moment’s notice. Tasked with managing the brush truck fleet, the wildfire mitigation captain and the fleet manager seized the opportunity to expand the use of free military surplus vehicles by having the department’s own fleet personnel do the full builds of 14 Type 4 trucks and five Type 6s. At a time when operational efficiencies were critical, the uncommon practice of doing all the work in-house allowed BCFR to custom-build the vehicles to fit their needs while saving the county $3 million. The Type 4 trucks were modified to allow for dual-purpose functions. They not only fight wildland fires, but they also act as water tenders that can feed water to fire engines for structural fire needs and they can draft water from nearby bodies of water – one truck doing the work of two different types. This is important for a department that serves urban areas as well as rural locations that lack municipal water systems. Since the plan called for and was executed with about five trucks being built each year, that meant maintenance and repairs going forward would be staggered, all to be done by the same crews that built them, and eliminating down time by relying on outside manufacturers. Other fire departments called to inquire about the process, and at least one made a site visit and took photos.