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Fire chief asks to retain two low-use support vehicles for rural first response and program trials
Summary
The county fire/EMS chief requested permission to keep two older support vehicles in fleet rather than sell or replace them; staff said the vehicles run about 180 calls per year combined, have high mileage but remain useful for rural first-response and potential mobile health pilots.
Sedgwick County’s fire/EMS leadership asked commissioners to allow two older support vehicles to remain in fleet as low-use assets for rural first-response and potential pilot programs.
Chief Kevin (fire/EMS chief) explained that the vehicles—a 2002 Chevy pickup with a new engine installed in 2023 and a 2014 Tahoe with about 100,000 miles—are stationed in Clearwater and Cheney and combined run approximately 180 calls per year. He said the pickup has about 316,000 miles but received a replacement engine in 2023; the Tahoe has slightly more than 100,000 miles. In the county fleet scoring system, those vehicles carry about 19.2 and 18 points, respectively.
The chief said the newer vehicles acquired last year are used to meet primary district-chief needs and for an urban response unit that handles low-acuity calls and frees transport units for other work. Keeping the older, low-mileage rural vehicles in service would allow the newer vehicles to be redeployed while still providing first-response coverage in low-demand areas. The chief also said retaining the vehicles would support a possible mobile integrated health program trial.
Commissioners asked about maintenance costs and replacement planning; county staff said the replacement program aims to limit long-term maintenance expenses and that keeping a small number of older vehicles in low-use rural roles was cost-effective given the limited calls those units handle. No formal vote on retaining the vehicles was recorded in the transcript.
