DOE transfers fire engine to Ft. Hall Department

FORT HALL, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - In anticipation of another potentially dangerous fire season, the U.S. Department of Energy has transferred an INL-operated brush fire truck to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Fire Department.

The low-mileage 1997 Pierce fire engine is capable of spraying 250 gallons of water per minute. It features an 800-gallon water tank and a 300-gallon foam tank, with a compressed air foam unit.

DOE-Idaho manager Robert Boston presented the keys to Fort Hall Tribal Business Council Chairman Ladd Edmo earlier this winter. DOE maintains mutual aid agreements with regional firefighting jurisdictions.

Fort Hall Fire Chief Eric King said Fort Hall Fire Department covers over 500,000 acres on the reservation, and since most of it is wildland, the fire truck will be valuable to them.

DOE distributed another brush fire truck through the Idaho Department of Lands and U.S. Forest Service to the North Bannock County Fire District, which serves northern Bannock County adjacent to the Fort Hall Reservation.