Cashmere buys $10,000 ladder truck after repair estimate reaches six figures

CASHMERE — Cashmere will replace its 26-year-old ladder truck with a surplus truck from the Wenatchee Valley Fire Department for $10,000, avoiding repairs estimated at $250,000 to $600,000 or roughly $1.5 million for a new replacement.

The City Council approved the purchase Sept. 14 after Cashmere Fire Chief Blake Larson explained that the city's existing ladder truck failed an inspection because of corrosion in its frame.

“We did have it inspected in 2022,” Larson said. “It failed inspection due to, there’s like a 20-page report I could forward on to any of you, delaminating corrosion on the frame. Basically, there was rust.”

The city purchased its current ladder truck used around 2010 to 2012. Larson said the truck had not received an aerial inspection during Cashmere's first 10 years of ownership before the 2022 inspection identified the corrosion.

“Our ladder truck’s 26 years old,” Larson said. “It’s not worth putting that much money into it.”

The timing created an inexpensive alternative.

Larson had begun talking with what was then Chelan County Fire District 1, now Wenatchee Valley Fire Department, about its plans for an older ladder truck as the department waited for a newly ordered replacement. The new truck took about four years to arrive, Larson said, and the older truck eventually became available as surplus.

The replacement is a 1997 model, a couple of years older than Cashmere's existing truck, but Larson said it has substantially fewer miles and operating hours, complete maintenance records and did not spend years exposed to road salt.

Wenatchee Valley Fire Department initially listed the truck for $25,000. After it received no interest and was reposted, Larson made an offer.

“I made them a lowball offer of $5,000,” Larson said. “They countered with $10,000.”

The fire department recently sold a surplus Kubota side-by-side for $9,000, leaving the ladder truck purchase just $1,000 above those proceeds. Council members authorized using the $9,000 and another $1,000 from capital funds for the purchase.

Larson emphasized that the truck is not intended as a permanent solution. Rehabilitating Cashmere's existing ladder truck could cost between $250,000 and $600,000, while a new ladder truck would cost about $1.5 million and could take years to arrive.

“So this isn’t a forever fix,” Larson said.

Maintaining an aerial apparatus is important to the city's fire protection rating because of older buildings and newer construction of three stories or more, Larson said. Cashmere is currently finalizing its Washington Surveying and Rating Bureau review, which can affect insurance ratings.

The replacement truck was still in service as recently as March and can be placed into service in Cashmere with relatively little work. Larson said equipment from the existing truck can be transferred to the replacement, and adding the department's logo to the doors would cost only a few hundred dollars.

There is one cosmetic complication.

“Unfortunately, it’s not red,” Larson said when asked about its color.

The city will also attempt to sell its existing ladder truck. Larson said its scrap value could be around $2,500, while an online appraisal suggested it might bring as much as $25,000 despite its failed inspection.

“I feel that we could probably sell it to cover the purchase of the other one,” Larson said.

The council's motion authorized the $10,000 purchase from Wenatchee Valley Fire Department and declared Cashmere's existing ladder truck surplus.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media