The Innisfail Fire Department's request to town council to move forward with more than $12,000 worth of repairs to a fire truck has been approved.
The request was made to town council at its Dec. 14 regular meeting.
At that meeting, council received a report from fire Chief Dean Clark that Engine 9-1 was recently sent to Rocky Mountain Phoenix in Red Deer for repairs to the auto lube bushing, the pump packing gland, three valve replacements and a wiring issue on the air brake system.
However, Clark's report also said that while the vehicle was in the shop, mechanics also discovered that further work was needed to ensure the pump did not have a “catastrophic failure” and that the pump could remain operating for several years. Those additional repairs included replacement of the pump input shaft, two wear rings, pump impeller and a modification to the pump casing on the shear point.
The total cost of all repairs came to $12,053.04.
Clark told council the additional repairs were done at the same time as the other ones as it proved less expensive because the pump had to be removed to fix the original repair issues.
Clark's request for the expenditure came the same evening town council was considering passage of its 2016 operating and capital budgets, which included the fire department's budget. Council approved the request, and made the necessary adjustment to the current fire department budget.
