Lake Country Fire & Rescue chief: totaled water tender is appraised; replacement likely next year

Chief Fenning of Lake Country Fire & Rescue told the Delafield Common Council on March 2 that a water tender involved in a Feb. 1 accident was deemed a total loss by the department's insurance pool and that the vehicle's owners have accepted the insurer's appraisal.

"We have not browned out since July," Chief Fenning said, describing steady improvements in response times. He said the totaled vehicle was about 20 years old and was owned by the village of Wales and the town of Genesee; LCFR does not own that specific tender. Fenning said the department participates in the League of Wisconsin Municipalities Insurance Program and the insurer provided an appraisal that has been accepted by the vehicle owners.

Fenning described operational constraints that limit the utility of off‑the‑shelf stock trucks. He said the vendor the department typically uses for apparatus is Pierce, and while some stock trucks were available, they would meet only about 60% of LCFR's operational needs. "Those stock trucks weren't gonna work for us," he said, explaining LCFR uses a "rural water hitch" procedure that depends on hose and tank configurations specific to the district's needs.

On timelines, Fenning said the department could pursue ordering a custom or near‑custom tender in April or May and potentially receive it in the first quarter of the following year. He added that the staff will present options at the LCFR board meeting in April, where the board may consider hiring an independent third‑party appraiser, accept insurer settlement, and determine reimbursement to partner communities under the intermunicipal agreement.

Council members asked about short‑term risk and whether leasing or other interim solutions were advisable. Fenning said staff expect to repair another tender (tender 42) and manage operations while pursuing a replacement. He emphasized the need for apparatus that fits the department's procedures and cautioned against equipment that requires extensive modification or compromises standard operations.

The LCFR board will review replacement strategy at its April meeting; Delafield city administrators also noted an administrators' meeting the next morning to finalize intermunicipal agreement amendments.

Next steps: the LCFR board will consider procurement and appraisal options in April; Delafield staff will participate in intermunicipal discussions.