NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Sept. 1, 2004
Contact: Jeff Fontana, BLM, (530) 257-5381 or Stu Ratner, Susanville FD, 257-1060
      CA-N-04-95

BLM ASSISTS CITY OF SUSANVILLE TO OUTFIT QUICK ATTACK FIRE ENGINE 

The City of Susanville Fire Department has new all-terrain, “quick attack” fire fighting capabilities, thanks to a partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and financial assistance from the National Fire Plan.

A new four-wheel-drive fire engine provided through the partnership already has responded to numerous incidents, and has added versatility to the fire department’s fleet of pumper trucks, according to Fire Chief Stu Ratner.

Equipped with a 300-gallon water tank and foam injection unit, the fire truck is ideal for initial response to fires in the “urban interface,” areas where homes are built adjacent to wildlands. It is small enough to get into tight areas and has high ground clearance that can handle rough terrain.

“We were happy to be able to work with the Susanville Fire Department and increase their fire-fighting capability,” said Dayne Barron, manager of the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office. “We work as partners in fire protection for the urban interface, and this new unit increases the level of protection for residents of our area.”

BLM and the city department worked to build the new fire engine almost from the ground up. BLM provided a pickup truck chassis surplused from the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program. Using grant funds from the national Rural Fire Assistance Program, the city fire department purchased a “slip in” fire fighting unit. It consists of the water tank, foam unit, pump and hoses. Utility compartments hold fire fighting tools and other emergency response equipment. Grant funds were used to refurbish the truck and outfit it with firefighting equipment.

The entire unit was assembled for about $30,000, about half the cost of a comparable engine if purchased new, said Jim Brown, regional fire management officer for the BLM.

The Rural Fire Assistance Program is a component of the National Fire Plan that enables the BLM and Department of the Interior agencies to provide grants of up to $20,000 annually to rural fire departments to improve their fire fighting capabilities in the wildland-urban interface.

Over the past three years, the BLM has used the Rural Fire Assistance Program to provide approximately $500,000 to Northern California fire departments to assist with needs ranging from equipment purchases to fire fighter training.

-BLM-

Eagle Lake Field Office 2950 Riverside Drive Susanville, CA 96130

Below: Jim Brown, left, fire management officer for the BLM in Northern California, hands keys to a new quick attack fire truck to Stu Ratner, chief of the Susanville Fire Department. The BLM worked with the Susanville Department to provide Rural Fire Program Assistance grant funds to help purchase and outfit the truck. It will be used to respond to fires in Susanville's wildland-urban interface.