Jesse Batson

During the course of the past two weeks, the Brookings Fire Department has been updating its fire trucks.

The department has already received one new truck and is set to receive three more, one of which will be a new pumper truck and one a 100-foot aerial platform. The total cost is estimated at $1.7 million.

“We’ve actually been researching and getting ready for this for about three years now,” said deputy chief Pete Bolzer.

The new equipment will actually save the taxpayers money, Bolzer said.

“We’d keep a truck for 20 years, but with this new purchase and our new capital outlay plan, we’d like to rotate the trucks every 10 years,” Bolzer said. “It’s a very big savings on the taxpayers.”

SDSU was one of the factors in purchasing the new equipment.

The department’s previous platform reached just 65 feet, not nearly high enough to reach the fourth floor in one of the residence halls, Bolzer said. The new 100-foot platform should reach those distances.

“(SDSU) supported us 100 percent,” Bolzer said. “They could see the need for a fire apparatus and additional protection for SDSU.”

Despite the cautionary measures, fire safety hasn’t been a problem at SDSU for years.

“Our fire record up there has been extremely good,” Bolzer said.

He credits that record to modernizing the buildings on campus.

#1.884639:2564095324.jpg:firetruck_aa.jpg:This is just one of the four new trucks that the Brookings Fire Department is set to receive. At a total cost of $1.7 million, the new trucks will feature updated equipment.:Amber Armstrong