City of Katy approves purchase of fire truck

At its regular meeting held Monday April 13, the Katy City Council authorized the purchase of a $785,772 fire truck to be used by the city's planned second fire station on Kingsland Blvd.

The purchase will be paid out of a $5 million bond city of Katy bond passed in November 2014. $1 million of the bond was allotted for the purchase of a new fire truck with the remaining funds set aside for the construction of the city's new fire facility.

The city received a $35,564 discount on the cost of the truck by agreeing to pay in full at the time of its purchase.

The new truck, a 2015 Impel 75-foot aluminum aerial quint, includes a longer ladder than the trucks the department currently has in its fleet, said Fire Chief Rufus Summers.

"All fire trucks have ladders, but this one has an aerial ladder on it," he said.

Having this new longer ladder will be useful in controlling blazes in large buildings, said councilman Chuck Brawner.

"This gives us the ability to get into tight spaces if we have apartment or hotel fires," Brawner said.