Boulder City Fire Department Acquires New Vehicle

The Boulder City Fire Department acquired a new ambulance from Hughes Fire Equipment of Oregon last week. The cost was just over $240,000 with the funds coming from the City's Vehicle and Equipment Replacement Fund (VERF). This was a planned and budgeted replacement. The vehicle was ordered eleven months ago and the process generally takes about a year before the City takes possession of the new fire vehicle.

"The Fire Department now has four rescues. These vehicles, which get a lot of use, need to be replaced on a 12-year rotation,” said Fire Chief Will Gray. “The goal is to replace one every 3 years to accomplish this."

Chief Gray went on to say, "Based on our analysis and the 500+ concurrent calls for service last year, I believe that we should have three staffed ambulances in the city and one reserve unit.  We currently have two staffed and two reserve units."

This vehicle uses a Ford F-450 chassis and an air-ride suspension. Both of these upgrades were needed to address power issues in the older ambulance unit and to improve stability, safety and comfort for transported patients.

The ambulances used by Boulder City Fire Department are typically used for longer trips than in most cities because patients sometimes require transport to other regional hospitals. Boulder City Fire Department currently averages about 102.5 transports per month. Approximately 56% of the transports are to Boulder City Hospital. Another 43% of patients are taken to hospitals in Henderson and Las Vegas. Henderson Hospital and St Rose Siena Hospital received 1297 of those patients, Sunrise Hospital received 114, UMC received 43, and the remaining 91 spread across twelve other valley hospitals.

In other news from the Fire Department, drive thru COVID-19 testing is now closed. If residents still require a test, the Fire Department will have free at-home test kits available, Monday thru Thursday from 8:00AM to 4:00PM. Tests are limited to two per household and you must be eighteen or older to pickup the at-home tests. For in-person testing, residents are encouraged to make use of the Southern Nevada Health District's COVID-19 testing website HERE.