Published: May 09, 2008 02:09 am            

CITY OF LOCKPORT: Fire chief to ask for OK of ambulance bid

Lockport Fire Chief Thomas Passuite will ask the Common Council to approve a bid for two new ambulances for the fire department.

Passuite told the fire board Thursday that if the council approves the bid at its meeting in two weeks, the new ambulances can be in service as early as next month.

The department received a bid last month from Syracuse-based Northeastern Reserve Vehicle for $240,900.

It was the lone bid the department received.

The department has two ambulances that need to be replaced, a 1996 model and a 2000 model, Passuite said.

Both ambulances broke down in March and were out of service at the same time. The 1996 model would require between $8,000 and $9,000 in repairs to get back to full working order, Passuite said.

The funds will be provided through a bank loan, at a rate of 3.25 percent over a five-year period, Passuite said.

Although the loan is structured like a lease, the fire department will actually own the ambulances at the end of the loan, Alderman Patrick Schrader said.

“They put the word ‘lease’ in there, but it’s really not a lease,” Schrader said.

The ambulances will last “a lot longer” than the normal eight-year life of an ambulance, because they will be purchased new, Passuite said.

“We can alternate them (on service calls), make them last equally long,” he said.

The first payment for the loan will not be due until this time next year, so the department can put the cost in its 2009 budget, he said.

In other fire board news:

n The board voted to commend the department’s second platoon for its work putting out a fire in a room at The Spires on Ontario Street.

The fire, which broke out April 27, was contained to one room on the eighth floor.

“We get false calls there occasionally,” Passuite said. “This time, they had a fully-engulfed room.”

The fire was so hot that it caused the outside of the door to buckle in, he said. Fire crews pumped water inside and managed to extinguish the blaze.

“They did an awesome job,” Passuite said.

The vote to commend the second platoon was unanimous.

“We recognize their success in fighting the fire,” Board Member Tom O’Shea said.

n The fire department is preparing to help out during this summer’s Canal Concert Series.

Passuite said about three or four EMS workers will be on hand, likely set up in a first aid tent or station.

The details are still being worked out, he said,

“I imagine this thing will get more refined as we do them,” he said. “It should be pretty interesting.”

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.

        

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