A truck that has been part of the Salina Fire Department fleet will see new life after the City Commission approved its donation to Salina Area Technical College Monday.
The 1994 Spartan Gladiator fire apparatus was scheduled for replacement in 2019 with a 2000 ALF apparatus purchased and placed in front-line service. The Gladiator, designated as Quint 4, has been in reserve status since.
According to city staff, the apparatus is still in working condition and passed its annual inspections in 2021.
The apparatus will be used by the Salina Tech’s fire science program in a move that will be beneficial to the college. Greg Nichols, president of Salina Tech, said the college has used some funding sources for its programs, but since it does not have a taxing authority, there are some resources that are out the school’s reach.
“The opportunity…comes up pretty infrequently for a 27-year-old vehicle, but we’ve got a shop that we can take care of things,” Nichols said. “We can use that resource in a way that keeps it in the community and builds the community.”
With many students being from the region and the possibility of them remaining in the community and working with Salina Fire Department or other nearby departments, Nichols said keeping this apparatus in the community is a way to continue to invest in the community.
“It allows us to do some things that we wouldn’t really be able to do (otherwise),” Nichols said.
The commissioners asked Nichols how the truck would be used by students and the benefits of having it remain in the city.
“Firefighters need to learn how to use the equipment,” Nichols said. “It’s a pumper truck first and foremost…They all have to use a pump to move the water to dissipate any fire.”
He said the college itself doesn’t have any other vehicle to do this kind of training.
“(Currently) we borrow from the city or the county,” Nichols said. “Right now, we will take our students off site…to the facilities and the vehicles that they have.”
According to Nichols, depending on how many students are in a given class, that could mean multiple trips to off-site facilities. Having a vehicle of its own on the campus could alleviate some of those issues.
“Running them through a cycle, right there on campus, would be really nice,” Nichols said.
Continued growth in the program
Another thing that Nichols hopes this donation will do is help the college’s fire science program grow. It currently offers technical certificates for fire training but there is the possibility of further opportunities.
“We hope that this program grows enough that we would offer an associate degree,” Nichols said. “That could build the firefighters’ credentials in the community and in the region.”
Finally, the truck can also help not only the fire science program at the college, but programs at the school as well.
“We do have a diesel program that would work on the vehicle, if need be, to maintain it and things like that,” Nichols said. “It is a diesel engine and it (has) a large pump. That’s (hydraulics) and that would part of our (fire science) coursework. We wouldn’t need to go externally to service the vehicle. We would be able to do it in house.”
