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Weatherford council approves purchase of four truck-mounted attenuators to protect responders
Summary
The council authorized up to $821,559.10 to buy four MAC MD6 non-CDL trucks with truck-mounted attenuators (two for the fire department) to provide mobile crash protection on high-speed roads and reduce risk to responders and city apparatus.
The Weatherford City Council on Nov. 18 approved spending up to $821,559.10 to purchase four MAC MD6 non-CDL trucks equipped with truck-mounted attenuators through HGAC cooperative purchasing. Two units are designated for the fire department; two will support public works, parks, electric, and water/wastewater operations.
Planning staff said truck-mounted attenuators provide a safety buffer at incident scenes on high-speed roadways that reduces the risk to firefighters, police and contractors. Chief Peacock described 2024 statistics for the I-20 corridor within city limits and cited recent examples elsewhere in which apparatus were struck during crash responses. He said a dedicated crash truck improves safety and helps keep more primary apparatus available for other responses.
Council members asked whether existing city trucks could be retrofitted. Staff and the fire chief said retrofit options exist but bring operational constraints, weight and reliability issues, and limited availability; dedicated, truck-mounted units were presented as more flexible and rapidly deployable. The proposed units include digital message boards to direct traffic at incident scenes.
Motion and vote: Mayor Pro Tem Tim Smith moved to approve; Heidi Wilder seconded. The item passed.
What happens next: The two fire-designated units will be outfitted and painted to department specification; procurement timelines vary with some units available sooner and fire units requiring additional customization.
