Good timing: Cloverdale RFPD gets 2 new fire trucks

With the threat of more wildfires this weekend, you just may see one of two new fire trucks from the Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District rushing out to work.

The two trucks replace four aging trucks including a couple that were more than 40 years old.

The staff is all-volunteer, except for two paid positions, a chief and a deputy chief.

Not only is the staff small, but the budget is small too: $300,000 a year.

The fire trucks cost well over $120,000, but thanks to the community, they paid a lot less.

When Thad Olsen became the Cloverdale fire chief in 2008, he started trying to replace every vehicle the department had.

“All of them up until now have been used, retired fire vehicles from other departments,” Olsen said.

Earlier this year, the fire department saw a need to replace the aging brush trucks with two 2012 Ford F550s.

“From braking to air bags and four-wheel drive, it improves the safety factor for our firefighters, because things happen when you responding to calls,” Olsen said.

The Cloverdale district serves 3,500 residents and protects an area about 50 square miles — a triangle between Bend, Sisters and Redmond.

It responds to more than 200 calls a year, and 25 percent of those are to help other agencies.

“It’s not uncommon for us to be sent on task forces or conflagrations,” Olsen said. “With these new trucks it will be ones that we send out also to help out our neighboring communities.”

From medical calls to brushfires to even wildfires like the Rooster Rock Fire, the fire department is usually first on scene.

“We always respond to the brushfires before the wildland agencies get there, so we protect our area,” Olsen said.

The aging engines didn’t help the situation, though.

“On a brushfire, it was just enough to where you thought you had the fire contained — and then you run out of water,” Olsen said.

The new trucks give them 75 percent more water capacity and about 40 percent additional pumping capacity.

“It actually allows us to continue to do firefighting, whereas before you were stopped,” Olsen said.

And if anything stops firefighters from doing their job, it’s a risk to everyone.

“It’s kind of pride for our firefighters, because now they do have nice reliable equipment that does the job for them,” Olsen said. “Makes their job easier, and probably the biggest thing is the safety factor for our personnel.”

The fire district estimates a cost savings of $40,000 per truck by designing and building the trucks using in-state vendors.

The Cloverdale Fire District also is looking for volunteers.

If you would like to volunteer, or for other information, you can visit their website www.cloverdalefire.com or give them a call at (541) 548-4815.