PRESS RELEASE
Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller and the Opelika Fire Department are pleased to announce the city’s three new pumpers have arrived. The new fire apparatus will be stationed at Station 1 downtown, by the Hospital at Station 2, and at the new Station 5 on Gateway Drive.
Chief Shane Boyd said, “When I arrived in 2021, we did a comprehensive look at all of the fire department’s needs and our vehicles were clearly the most obvious. Our fire apparatus had an average age of more than 25 years. Once we were aware of our fleet issues we worked with the city leaders on a comprehensive vehicle replacement plan. Without great leadership from Mayor Gary Fuller and City Administrator Joey Motley, and support from the Opelika City Council, large purchases like this are not possible.”
To replace the apparatus, the fire department built the trucks utilizing a committee of firefighters and fire officers. Typically, a fire chief or a select few decide what trucks to buy with little or no input from the firefighters that use them every day.
The city, through bid process, used Williams Fire Apparatus and purchased the Sutphen fire apparatus. The three pumpers are built identically and configured uniformly to make daily operations easier on the firefighters no matter which engine they are on. The new fire apparatus are on the road now. The fire department chose the color scheme of red/black to mirror the city logo and Opelika High School’s team colors.
Mayor Fuller added, “Safety for our citizens is the most important thing to us. Our first responders deserve the proper tools and apparatus to do a good job for our community. And, I like the way Chief Boyd decided to take on this project. Including the firefighters gives them something they can take great pride in.”
Post Covid there have been many changes due to a combination of issues. With environmental mandates, constant mandated mechanical up grades, and a huge influx of orders by cities around the country post Covid (largely affected by both Covid shutdowns and ARPA funds being delivered to cities) there has been a 40 percent increase in the cost of fire apparatus. The fire department was able to get ahead of this increase and saved the city more than $1.6 million.
