Thompson Township issued the following announcement on Jan. 9.
I received the following email from our Fire Department Chief and thought I would share with the township:
It has recently been brought to my attention that numerous members of the community are under the impression that I, as Chief of the fire department, purchased a Chief’s vehicle. This could not be further from the truth.
The “new” fire department vehicle is, in fact, the old police cruiser. A generous donation allowed the police department to update their fleet, meaning their oldest vehicle was no longer needed. Unlike previous police vehicles which were decommissioned, this 2013 Ford Explorer still has some value, that allowed the police department to donate it to the fire department.
The “POLICE” lettering was removed by firefighters. A firefighter designed and printed the new graphics, which were then applied to the vehicle, by firefighters. All time and materials for this project were donated.
The only expense to taxpayers was the purchase of a lightbar. Police departments use red and blue lights and fire departments are only authorized to use red, therefore, we needed to purchase a lightbar.
This utility vehicle “4482” will be used to respond extra personnel to scenes, for travel to out-of-town trainings, etc. Using this vehicle will keep $500,000.00 fire trucks and other apparatus off the roadway unless needed for fires or car accidents. Again, the only expense to taxpayers was a lightbar.
Chief Dorothy Battles
Thompson Township Fire Department
Original source can be found here.
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