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Township approves $640,000 purchase of Type 3 wildland fire engine
Summary
The board approved spending $640,000 to buy a Type 3 wildland engine to replace an aging brush truck; $300,000 will come from the capital replacement reserve and $340,000 from undesignated funds, and the truck can be deployed for out‑of‑state mutual‑aid responses after crew certification.
The Woodlands Township board voted Feb. 20 to buy a Type 3 wildland fire engine to support firefighting in the wildland‑urban interface and to re‑align the department’s vehicle replacement schedule.
Chief Palmer Buck told the board the vehicle is a four‑wheel‑drive “Type 3” engine that carries about 500 gallons of water and “can pump up to 500 gallons per minute when supplied correctly.” He said the truck is a stock model available in the fall with a fast delivery timetable that would allow the department to replace an existing brush truck sooner than previously scheduled.
“What we’re asking for is $640,000, that will pay for the truck and to equip it,” Chief Buck said. He identified the purchase price of the vehicle at about $589,898 under a HGAC cooperative contract with Siddons Martin Emergency Group and said roughly $300,000 was already in the capital replacement reserve.
Board members asked about operational flexibility, out‑of‑state deployments and certification. Chief Buck said the truck is “the best of both worlds,” able to serve wildland and limited structural firefighting roles; the department is pursuing Texas Interagency Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) certifications and expects to train engine bosses and wildland firefighter crews to allow deployments outside the township.
The board approved a motion to allocate $640,000 — $300,000 reallocated from the capital replacement reserve and $340,000 from the undesignated fund balance — to purchase a BME Charji Bridal 34 Type 3 engine and to approve the Siddons Martin Emergency Group HGAC contract in the amount of $589,898. The motion was moved and seconded and approved by voice vote; the minutes record the motion carried.
