Williston Fire Department to Receive $3 Million in Equipment & Vehicles

Proceeds from the voter-approved Public Safety Sales Tax are going to help purchase $3 million in new equipment and vehicles for the Williston Fire Department. The Williston City Commission recently approved a Williston Fire Department request to purchase the gear over the next two years. “This funding will help provide the resources we need to catch up with the growth over the past five to six years,” said Williston Fire Chief Jason Catrambone. The Public Safety Sales Tax was approved by voters in November of 2014 to help pay for infrastructure projects, equipment and salaries for city and county emergency services. The City of Williston and Williams County each receive fifty percent of the sales tax proceeds. In addition to the equipment and vehicles, Williston is building three $5 million substations over the next 24 months. Station 2 is currently under construction on 58th Street near Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative. “The substations and apparatus will help us get the personnel, water and equipment to many different types of incidents in multiple places,” said Catrambone. The gear includes two fire engines (pumper), a heavy rescue, pumper tender, tender and two wildland attack vehicles. “The first new trucks to arrive will be the two wildland trucks that will be built by DANKO,” said Catrambone. “These will be used mostly in the undeveloped areas of the city battling grass or vegetation fires.” The new heavy rescue will help save time by single-handedly being able to accommodate a variety of missions.

“The heavy rescue will carry not only personnel to an emergency scene it will act as a mobile tool box for the firefighters. It will carry tools and equipment needed to respond to many different types of calls including: extrication, rope rescue, hazardous materials, confined space, and collapse to name a few,” said Catrambone. All of the equipment will be state-of-the art to help meet the multitude of needs and situations in Williston.“ The pumpers will also be able to pump and roll, which means they will have the capabilities to flow water while driving,” explained Catrambone. “The tender will be an all-wheel drive apparatus that will not only support firefighting operations in non-hydranted areas but it will also be an amazing asset in undeveloped areas.” Fire Stations 3 and 4 are in the architectural planning stages. All three substations will be similar in function and design, but built to suit their individual sites. For more details and photos of the Williston Fire Department’s expansion visit their facebook page.