The price was right: Robe Valley gets its ‘new’ fire engine

Published 4:18 pm Saturday, September 27, 2014

VERLOT — There was a bit of breath-holding when the Robe Valley firefighters brought home another fire engine earlier this month.

For a long time, they’ve needed a newer engine to replace their 1982 Mack.

The problem was, fancy new fire trucks cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the big, long rigs made for urban cities wouldn’t fit into their 1940s-era fire station along the Mountain Loop Highway. They also needed a rig that could hold a lot of water — there aren’t many fire hydrants east of Granite Falls.

The “new” engine — a 1995 model — fit in the station, Robe Valley fire commissioner John Sobieski said.

“It clears the ceiling in our fire station by about six inches, which is incredible,” he said. “We were all standing around saying we couldn’t believe it actually fit.”

The fire truck came at a good price, too: $1.

The seller was the North County Regional Fire Authority, based in Stanwood.

The fire authority tries to surplus rigs before they turn 20 years old to keep insurance costs down, interim Chief Scott Johnston said. The engine that went to Robe Valley was approaching that mark.

The 1995 truck is about 30 feet long. It weighs 35,000 pounds with a full load of water. It was purchased in 1996, and “it’s been in service ever since,” Johnston said.

The selling price might have been $6,000, he said.

“Sure we could use the money some place, but our thing was there are other people who are in a lot worse need than we are,” he said.

So the North County folks called Robe Valley. Within a day, a visit was scheduled for Sept. 5.

“They came and looked at it and they loved it and then took it immediately right then and there,” Johnston said.

Now, it’s Engine 89 serving the Robe Valley fire district’s 15 square miles. About 15 volunteer firefighters serve the district, which covers parts of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest on a $42,000 annual budget.

The “new” engine already is responding to calls, and should be outfitted soon with graphics for Snohomish County Fire District 23, serving Robe Valley.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.