COLD LAKE – City of Cold Lake council approved a budget amendment to secure funding for a new rescue truck for the City’s fire services during the July 8 regular meeting.
The motion amends the 2025 Capital Budget to include an additional $175,920 for a rescue truck replacement, which will be funded from the City’s unrestricted surplus.
The replacement of the aging 1998 GMC C-Series Top Kick Diesel, currently housed at the South Fire Hall, has been in the works since it was first identified as a priority in 2019 - a need further reinforced by the Behr Feasibility Study. The unit has logged just under 40,000 km, but City officials say maintenance has become increasingly difficult due to a lack of available parts.
“In essence the City of Cold Lake did tender its rescue equipment this year. It is slated for replacement,” said CAO Kevin Nagoya. “It's a one-off piece of equipment that we do keep separate from the rest of the fleet. It did come in over budget, as you can see within the numbers.”
Council had previously allocated $650,000 in the 2024 Capital Budget and an additional $100,000 in the 2025 budget. However, the final procurement cost came in at $925,920 after a formal bid was received from Fort Garry Fire Trucks, the only vendor to respond to the City’s Request for Prospal (RFP) process.
“There are a couple of other ones out there, but you can see in the industry that everybody’s pretty busy,” Nagoya explained.
Coun. Chris Vining inquired about the truck’s history and its service timeline. Nagoya responded, stating, “That piece of equipment has quite a bit of history. My understanding, based on anecdotal conversations that I've had over the time, is that piece of equipment was one of the last pieces of equipment that was fundraised by the old fire rescue programs way back in the day.”
Vining confirmed the truck had been in service for more than 25 years and asked whether the new unit would be similar. Nagoya replied, “It’ll be a similar design . . . It’s not too much different except modernization.”
Coun. Vicky Lefebvre asked if there was a possibility that the unit would further increase in cost once it is ordered.
“Is there any chance it’s going to go up even more?”
Nagoya assured council that the tender price is locked in.
“There might be a few odds and ends that may change or shift, but I would consider those immaterial to worry about here,” said the CAO.
As for plans for the old unit, Nagoya advised against keeping it in service.
“Parts will start to become an issue on a priority basis. It would not be my advice to be keeping it around."
He added that while there were some internal conversations about repurposing the truck into a hazmat unit, the practicality of doing so would need careful evaluation.
“It’s more just strictly a rescue apparatus and holds the rescue tools and whatnot there . . . It’s a pretty simple piece of equipment.”
Mayor Craig Copeland wrapped up the discussion by confirming the funding source, stating, “So the funds are coming from the unrestricted [surplus], which means there’s money sitting there that hasn’t been allocated so in our funds.”
The new rescue truck is expected to take several years to arrive due to factors like custom design requirements, high demand, manufacturing backlogs, and inspection processes. The price also reflects rising costs in the firefighting industry, with rescue units now nearing the same cost as ladder trucks.
