Andy Milone
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Less than a year ago, Councilor Dave Sires purchased a 1990 Pierce 55-foot aerial ladder fire truck “just for fun” from a friend.
Now, the truck has a new home about a half-hour south of Cedar Falls after Sires donated it to the Traer Fire Department last month.
The volunteer company responds to emergencies in the Tama County city of about 1,500 people and surrounding rural towns.
https://www.facebook.com/traerfire/posts/655229392594949
“It seemed too good to waste and for it not to be in service. And these guys actually needed it,” Sires said. “The truck had a lot of life left in it, and if it can help save one life, then that’s huge for me.”
According to Fire Chief Tyler Sell, the truck, which costs about $400,000 new, became the “talk of the town” after the city accepted Sires’ offer. Sires, his wife, Lisa, and dog Jack delivered it unexpectedly to Traer on Jan. 13.
It will be the ninth truck in Traer’s fleet, according to Sell, who heads the department with an annual budget of $75,000, a majority of which is supported through tax revenue.
The department also hosts fundraising events like a festival, dance, pancake breakfast and a couple of dinners.
After some minor repairs to the truck, which has about 8,500 miles on it, it will be put back into service. It could be responding to fires as early as April, Sell said.
“Dave provided us with an opportunity that we probably would have never had,” Sell said.
It’s the first time his department has received a fire truck via donation, which he said is “very, very uncommon,” even from other cities.
The department has relied on the Toledo Fire Department’s ladder truck for some emergencies. But Toledo is about 20 minutes away. Traer expects emergency response times to fall “greatly” in some cases.
The truck will respond to downtown fires where buildings are “tall and sandwiched together.”
“We wouldn’t have thought about purchasing one because of the overall cost, and because of other needs needing to be satisfied first,” Sell said.
He said the new truck will help improve the department’s insurance rating, one reason being its pumping capacity of 1,500 gallons per minute. A firefighter on the ground will control the water spray from its highest point in the air.
Sires had been looking to donate to a local fire department, and was scanning the Iowa Firefighters Association’s website when he came across its past president Nick Riley, who happened to be a member of Traer’s department.
“We’re thrilled to death he ended up picking us,” said Sell. “We’re just really excited.”
Firefighters said the truck will allow them to better respond to the rural communities.
Sires chalked it up to the work of God that he stumbled upon a department that could benefit so greatly from his donation.
Those in Cedar Falls may have seen him driving it on local streets, or at the Sept. 11 commemoration ceremony at the Cedar Falls AMVETS.
Sires noted he and the truck also will be seen in a soon-to-be-released movie produced by Water City Films.
In addition, residents may have spotted the truck on the campaign trail when Sires ran for mayor last year. At the time, his opponent, Mayor Rob Green, reported a “discrepancy” to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board in Sire’s campaign expenditure filings for the sake of “rectification.”
“In his report, Mr. Sires failed to include his purchase this year of a surplus fire engine, which he emblazoned with his name and campaign-related messaging, then entered into multiple city parades and events,” Green wrote in an email to the board.
The informal complaint was dismissed.
Recent photos show the truck sports decals with Sires’ name, and slogans such as, “Hosin’ down the competition,” and “America’s most competitive councilman.” But none of the statements resemble the campaign message: “Vote Dave Sires for mayor.”
Those decals will be removed, but some type of recognition will remain to acknowledge the truck came to Traer because of Sires’ donation.
___
(c)2022 Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (Waterloo, Iowa)