New Fire Truck Purchase Looks Likely

It looks like New Port Richey city leaders want to buy a new fire engine and are also interested in hiring firefighters.

During an Aug. 13 discussion of the upcoming budget year, City Council members expressed support for the idea of purchasing the new vehicle and hiring three firefighter/emergency medical technicians at the department.

The engine could cost the city $425,000.  

The combined cost to hire the three firefighters would be $83,682.  In addition, the city council also indicated it wants to restore a fire department administrative assistant position that is currently part-time to a full-time job. That would bump the cost of the position from $11,703 to $16,483 annually.  

The city could pay for the costs using a combination of reserve funds; Penny for Pasco funds previously allocated toward a bus depot and general fund monies. 

On July 23, New Port Richey Fire Rescue Chief Alex Onishenko raised alarms when he told council members that only one engine in his department’s fleet was in working condition. The department’s ladder track was in need of repairs, and the other two engines were in the shop for repairs.

In addition, the department is down to six firefighters per shift. The department has three shifts.

The news about the situation at the fire department prompted concerns last month that the city could face an increase in its fire protection rating assigned by the Insurance Services Office, also known as the ISO rating. That rise could in turn result in higher insurance premiums for residents.

The city ISO rating is assessed on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the best rating and 10 being the worst.  New Port Richey is currently rated as a 3.

Onishenko said on July 23 that both the lower staff and the broken vehicles could impact the city’s ISO rating.

Since then, the broken engines have been repaired and returned to service. The 19-year-old ladder truck, the department’s oldest vehicle, was still in the shop but was expected to be back o the street next week.

The department’s second oldest vehicle is a 17-year-old engine that had brake problems and will likely still need transmission work in the future.

Councilmen Chopper Davis and Jeff Starkey expressed support for the idea of paying to hire staff at the department and buy it a new fire engine  

“We’re getting to the point where it’s almost a public safety issue,”  Starkey said.

Starkey said he felt the current council faced difficult decisions because of the “poor decisions” made by the people who sat in council chairs in the past. But now they have to address the problems.

“The bottom line is the fire department needs help,” he said. “They need money.”

The city council directed staff to add the costs of the staff hires, truck and restoration of the administrative assistant into the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

The city council makes its final decisions on what to keep in the budget at the end of  September.