Richard Froese
For the Lakeside Leader

Big Lakes County Protective Services has welcomed its first pumper/rescue truck, based in the Kinuso fire district.

The 2022 International 607HV with a Prestige fire truck body arrived Jan. 19 and went into service Jan. 21, fire chief Jason Cottingham says.

The Canadian-made truck has a tank that holds 800 imperial gallons of water and can pump up to 4,700 litres of water per minute.

Acres Emergency Vehicles, of Brandon, Manitoba, supplied the truck as the lowest bidder in the tender process with a price of $623,000.

“The main focus of the new truck is to provide fire and rescue services to Kinuso and the surrounding area,” Cottingham says.

That includes residential structure fires, commercial structure fires, motor vehicle fires, wildland fires and medical calls.

He says the county bought the new pumper/rescue truck to replace the fire truck that was written off in a motor vehicle collision in 2021.

“The fire truck was T-boned when someone ran a stop sign,” Cottingham says.

Big Lakes fire services is moving from single-purpose fire trucks to multi-role fire trucks to reduce capital costs spent over the long term, he says.

“The sister truck to Kinuso will arrive in June for the High Prairie district,” Cottingham says.

Kinuso deputy fire chief Everett Samuelson and district firefighters appreciate the new truck that was ordered after the current county council awarded the tender, he says.

“Fire service members thank Big Lakes council for the insight and support for the purchase,” Cottingham says.

The new Kinuso truck is scheduled to be part of the county fire department for 20 years, he notes.

Acres Emergency Vehicles has been the successful bidder for supplying the county’s last four new fire trucks.

Two new pumper/rescue trucks for the county are currently in production.

Big Lakes welcomed its first tandem tender / pumper fire truck on Nov. 16, based in the High Prairie fire hall.