Politics & Government

Firefighting Partnerships Allow Hopkins to Sell Off Vehicles

The Fire Department could wind up selling as many as three vehicles.

Partnerships with fire departments in neighboring communities are allowing the to sell off some of its vehicles—including a 1992 rescue truck sold last week for $87,500.

“We’re all taxpayers, so we’re trying to be as efficient as possible,” said Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Sandon.

In all, the department could wind up selling as many as three vehicles. Such sell-offs save the city money and potentially allow the department to replace an outdated truck. They’re also an example of the type of efficiencies taxpayers increasingly demand—but that aren’t always easy for officials to find.

Find out what's happening in Hopkinswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“It’s all just maximizing resources the best way we know how,” said Assistant Chief Curt Mackey.

In this case, the efficiencies were possible because of rules changes for the Insurance Services Office ratings that are used to set fire insurance premiums for residential and commercial properties.

Find out what's happening in Hopkinswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Prior to 2006, the ratings didn’t consider the ability of neighboring communities to help fight fires, Fire Chief Dale Specken said. Each community had to stand on its own merits. During that era, Hopkins firefighters largely confined themselves to the city limits.

But fire departments started to work more closely together once that rule changed. For the past six years, the departments have been responding to one another’s calls—and in many cases head out to help before they’re formally requested. When a fire broke out on Minnetonka’s Robinwood Terrace, it was Hopkins firefighters who arrived first.

“We pretty much work seamlessly when we go to work with each other,” Specken said.

Selling off the vehicles will bring in some money—and, perhaps more importantly, remove items from the . The city once devoted $500,000 per year to that fund but trimmed those deposits in half eight years ago, when the city lost a stream of state money.

Under the city's current plan, replacement costs should average about $640,000 per year between 2010 and 2015. Contributions to the fund would average just $370,000 per year during that same period. Fixing the problem with increased savings alone would cost $1 million per year by 2024.

"We can't raise enough money to solve this problem," Assistant City Manager Jim Genellie said during a discussion in June.

Selling the trucks won’t necessarily be a net gain in the short term, though. A 1995 light rescue truck is in poor condition—having died on calls before. Its main responsibility is to respond to medical calls, and it does not have pumps, hoses, water or any fire suppression equipment.

The Fire Department wants to replace this with a quick attack pumper that would contain fire suppression equipment. The pumper—estimated to cost between $225,000 and $250,000—would allow two firefighters to put out small fires such as grass or garbage bin fires. That, in turn, would allow the department to avoid calling out an entire crew for those small fires.

Council members would need to amend the equipment replacement plan for that to happen—although their comments at Tuesday’s council meeting were supportive.

Regardless of whether the department gets the pumper, firefighters say they’ll be able to get by with at least two fewer vehicles—all because of partnerships with neighboring communities.

“I don’t think the fire service will ever go back to the way it was where everybody was self sufficient,” Sandon said.

***

What could happen?

  • Last week, Hopkins sold a heavy rescue truck for $87,500
  • It has put a 1989 fire engine and 1998 fire engine up for sale for $75,000 and $100,000 respectively. It would only actually sell one of those.
  • The Fire Department wants to buy a quick attack pumper that would likely cost between $225,000 and $250,000.
  • If it buys the pumper, it would sell a 1995 light rescue truck that would probably fetch $5,000 or so.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here