Earlier this month, it was announced that the San Bernardino County Fire Department was being awarded $450,000 to purchase a new Type III Wildland Fire Engine. The decision to award the county fire department extra money to purchase the fire engine came from budget negotiations between Assemblymember Eloise Reyes (D-San Bernardino), the State Assembly and Governor Brown’s administration.
The San Bernardino County Fire District, Serving the Cities of San Bernardino and Grand Terrace, was in need to replace their aging Brush Engines. Brush Engines are first response units to San Bernardino and Grand Terrace as well as first response units to the State Responsibility Area’s (SRA) to protect life and infrastructure.
“We have seen a marked increase in the length as well as severity of our state’s fire season and our fire departments and first responders need to be equipped correctly and ready to respond at a moment’s notice,” said Assemblymember Reyes. “This Type III Fire Engine is one of the foundational pieces of our fire response infrastructure and ensures that our fire department can adequately respond when the need arises and that they can continue to serve the people of the 47th Assembly District.”
San Bernardino, Grand Terrace and the surrounding cities and areas of the 47th Assembly District are listed by Cal Fire as “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones in the LRA (Local Response Areas)”. Brush engines or Type III Engines are specialized units that have a short wheel-base and high clearance to operate in off road Areas such as the Santa Ana River, Waterman Canyon, the wildland urban interface in Grand Terrace, San Bernardino and the SRA (State Responsibility Area’s). These units are also used in the states Master Mutual Aid Program.