Equipment Consolidation Saves Collingswood F.D.

In the current age of municipal budgets, you’ve often got to give something up in order to get something back.

So when it came time for the to re-fit one of its rescue vehicles, Chief Keith Davis knew he’d better take his pen to the budget before he thought about taking it to his checkbook.

“We’ve been really trying to find ways to cut costs and save money but still provide the same services with the same up-to-date equipment,” Davis said.

“Sometimes that takes a little bit to think outside the box and make some changes on the fly.”

The borough complement of emergency vehicles includes a squad engine, ladder, two ambulances, and a flat-bottom boat. Keeping all that gear in ready condition isn’t inexpensive, either. Aside from personnel, the biggest line-item cost in the Collingswood F.D. budget is “probably apparatus maintenance,” Davis said.

With the reduction in the number of hours volunteers are able to commit to the department, plus increasing maintenance and fuel costs, Davis said, “We can’t put a lot of apparatus on the street like we did in the 1990s.”

The department does as much as it can in-house to save money by maintaining the equipment itself, but certified technicians who carry emergency qualifications are needed to work on the apparatus, even to do a light bulb or oil change.

You can imagine, then, the cost to completely re-fit an ambulance when wear and tear began to show on one of the department’s two units.

“A new ambulance might cost $180,000,” Davis said. “To refurbish one would cost us $82,000.”

To come up with that kind of money would be a significant challenge. Instead, the department decided to consolidate its equipment onto two trucks and auction off the remaining vehicle to cover the funding shortfall.

By combining the bulk of its rescue equipment onto one engine and one ladder truck, Collingswood F.D. was able to free up a surplus rescue truck without losing any of its capabilities—and netted $62,000 in the process.

“Basically that vehicle was meant for specialties,” Davis said, “motor-vehicle accident rescues, high-angle and low-angle rescues—and that wasn’t the bulk share of our need in this town.

“That piece of apparatus was third, sometimes fourth to leave the station,” he added. “Now all the same equipment is still getting there and it’s getting there much quicker.”

The money from the auction of the vehicle reduced the cost of refurbishing the ambulance to about $20,000—a mere fraction of the cost of purchasing a new one outright. The revamped ambulance should join the force in about three or four months, and in the meantime, a loaner will be available in the event it is needed.

Best of all, the winning bidder was the borough of Oaklyn, so the truck won’t go too far to its new home. As silly as it may sound, Davis said there is some emotional attachment to the vehicles, and knowing the former member of the squad is close by is somewhat comforting.

“It’s a months-long—sometimes a yearlong process—to spec out a fire apparatus and follow it through to completion,” Davis said. “There is hard work and a lot of off-duty hours that our members have committed to having it constructed.

“It helped out the community with the cost savings to fit our needs, and at the same time it helped Oaklyn fit their needs with what they needed for their fire service. It’s a win-win; a lot of money was saved in both budgets.”