The Warwick Fire Department was given approval by the Warwick City Council on Wednesday night to purchase an approximately $700,000 special hazards rescue truck, which will replace the oldest vehicle in their fleet that had logged over 216,000 miles in about 25 years.

Thanks to a federal grant and the efforts of fire department personnel, however, the city will only bear only 10 percent of that cost a year from now – leaving the city on the hook for just $74,362 in 2020 after adding on an extended warranty for the vehicle.

The highly competitive FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant was awarded to the Warwick Fire Department in August of 2017 “after multiple attempts,” according to their bid sheet. Following the grant award, the department worked to finalize a specialized list of requirements needed for a truly unparalleled special hazards and went to bid.

Two bidders emerged, Spartan Motors of Charlotte, Mo. And Greenwood Emergency Vehicles of North Attleboro, Mass. Greenwood was awarded the bid on Wednesday night, as the department felt their extended warranty offer – which for $2,368 more would extend the warranty from five to 10 years and increase the mileage warranty from 100,000 to 200,000 – was a great deal. On top of the warranty, Spartan did not meet certain requirements outlined in the federal grant.

The department had explored an opportunity to save approximately $4,500 on the vehicle by providing a $150,000 payment to Greenwood up front – the city would then be reimbursed by the federal government at a later date – but Finance Director Brian Silvia and City Council Finance Committee Chair Ed Ladouceur concurred that the city did not have such a sum to comfortably put up front for such a relatively small savings.

As part of the bid contract, Greenwood has agreed to supply the Warwick Fire Department with a loaner ladder truck while they wait for the special hazards truck to be equipped and prepared for delivery, which could take up to a year. The ladder truck should be in Warwick ready to hit the streets this week, according to acting Fire Chief Marcel Fontenault.

Once the truck is ready to go, the federal government will reimburse the city when it’s time to pay the vendor, so no money besides the aforementioned city portion will have to come out of the city’s books.

“When it's time to pay the vendor, the money is there for it,” Fontenault said. “It doesn't come out of our general fund.”

And what will become of the old special hazards truck?

“That truck I believe the DPW has been pulling on my shirt tail for that one, they want to make a sander out of it or something. It can't be an emergency vehicle. Once we replace it with a government grant, it can no longer be an emergency vehicle,” Fontenault told the committee. “It can be used in the city as a utility vehicle.”

The department will also be receiving a loaner medical rescue vehicle next week while they wait to be supplied with the rescue vehicle that they were granted permission to purchase from the City Council over the summer. That vehicle, a $291,631 vehicle from New England Fire Equipment & Apparatus Corp. of New Haven, Conn., will remove the oldest medical rescue from front-line service in Cowesett, and bring the total number of medical rescues in Warwick to eight (four front-line and four reserves).

In regards to being awarded the grant for the special hazards truck, there was much praise to go around. Lieutenant Scott Jensen was identified in the grant award as the applicant.

“We'd like to commend Lt. Jensen and the committee that put this grant together,” Fontenault said. “Like you found out from the Senator [Jack Reed], these are very competitive grants. To get a vehicle is very tough. We put in for two more from next year and hopefully we'll meet the needs for next year too.”

“Kudos,” said Ladouceur. “There certainly was a lot of work on your part and there was due diligence on your part and the efforts are well recognized.”

“I'd just like to look at the bigger picture,” added Ward 3 Councilman and finance committee member Tim Howe. “We just got a three quarter of a million-dollar truck for $74,000. Thank you very much.”