Gas prices are hitting most of our wallets, and companies across the nation are trying to cut back on fuel expenses. But what happens when that fuel is needed to save your home, or your life? Just running a fire is expensive, and one of the most costly items on Windy Hill Fire Chief John Delung’s fire trucks are his diesel gas tanks.
"Our fuel bill has right now about tripled since last year. It used to be right around $17,000, it's now about $45,000 to $60,000,” says Delung. The average fire truck has a 50 gallon fuel tank. So with diesel prices hitting just under five dollars per gallon, Delung’s looking at $250 per fill up. Windy Hill’s fire trucks get about five miles to the gallon for a response area that’s 106 square miles. In other words, the cost of saving lives has cost their savings. Which means the money for new trucks, new equipment and new volunteers are dwindling.
"We have 28 volunteers, so the cost of their gas is now coming into play, because they still have to leave their house, get to the station, get in a fire truck...so they're now hurting in the cost of gasoline for the fires we go to,” says Delung. While he assured us that the fires will continue to be put out around the Pee Dee, one thing is for sure, these heroics don’t come cheap.
Fire stations around the nation are now re-evaluating how many trucks to send to the standard fire alarm calls. The initial response used to be five trucks on a scene. If the cost of diesel keeps rising, many places will be cutting back to three and even two trucks until the size of the fire is determined.
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