New vehicle and staff fine tune Marble Falls Fire Rescue resources
Connie Swinney/The Highlander
Marble Falls Fire Rescue Firefighters, from left, Andy Sanguiet, Travis Rabb and engineer Randy Rankin, on Jan. 21 prepped the agency's new squad vehicle, which enhanced their ability to handle multiple emergency calls.
By Connie Swinney
Staff Writer
After nearly a week of being in-service Marble Falls Fire Rescue personnel noticed the benefit of the entity's new squad response SUV.
“It's a better use of resources,” Marble Falls Fire Capt. Sam Stacks said. “It's going to improve our customer service.”
Crews placed the response vehicle in service the morning of Jan. 15.
“So far, it's working great,” Marble Falls Fire Engineer Randy Rankin said. “It's putting less wear and tear on the engine.
“It's also much easier to maneuver.”
Along with the new SUV, the department received a $553,968 U.S. Department of Homeland Security Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grant.
The grant increases the number of firefighters within the agency, adding one to each shift. Each shift will staff five firefighters. The new crew members were sworn in on the same day the vehicle went into service.
“With them on a medical call, before we had the squad, four of us would be on the (fire) engine. Another call would come in, and we couldn't break away,” Rankin said. “Now we have two trucks staffed instead of one; three (personnel) on the engine and two in the squad.”
Prior to the response vehicle acquisition, the entity relied on back up during simultaneous calls from assisting agencies including Marble Falls Volunteer Fire Department and Horseshoe Bay Fire Rescue.
“The Department will use the SUV-type vehicle to respond to most of the medical calls within the city,” according to Marble Falls Fire Chief Russell Sander. “The smaller vehicle costs less to operate than the large fire engine.”
