Sisters has new wildland fire engine

The Sisters-Camp Sherman fire department has a new weapon in its firefighting arsenal: an 825-gallon wildland firefighting engine.

The truck, which was fitted out largely through the efforts of the department's own firefighters, is a 1993 Military 6X6 built by American General, with 10,800 miles on the odometer, and 662 hours on the chassis.

The truck carries an 825-gallon water tank, and a 20-gallon class A foam tank.

"This vehicle is capable of operating in water depth up to 72 inches if we need to operate in flood conditions," said deputy fire chief Ryan Karjala.

Karjala, who oversaw the project, explained that the chassis, tank and pump were acquired through the FEPP Program (Federal Excess Property Program). The equipment boxes were built by Pro-Tech, the flatbed built by Pro-Line and the paint was done in Redmond. Captain Jeremy Ast was instrumental in designing the boxes and flatbed, Captain Gary Lovegren installed and mounted all hardware on the flatbed and chassis with the assistance of mechanic Bill Hayes. Captain Thornton Brown and firemedic Ben Bruegeman installed all radio and fire-com components. All staff participated in the design, procurement and building of this fire truck.

All the in-house work kept project costs down to about $28,000, a value for the district.

"This is a very unique piece of fire apparatus and the cost to purchase a vehicle in this condition is very difficult to determine," Karjala said. However, he estimated that market cost "would be approximately $80,000 to $100,000, plus or minus."