Salt Spring’s firefighting fleet will retain its international flavour, so to speak, as officials voted to approve sourcing a replacement tender truck from a U.S.-based manufacturer.
The choice, even in a “buy Canadian” post-tariff world, amounts to a distinction without much difference, according to the Salt Spring Is-land Fire Protection District board. Fire Chief Jamie Holmes brought the procurement issue to trustees for direction during their regular meeting Monday, May 26.
The department does have a history of buying Canadian whenever practicable, Holmes noted, most recently with the new fire hall. Even before tensions ramped up with the U.S., contractors for that project had prioritized procurement from Canadian suppliers, often sourcing within B.C.
“There’s the steel from Chemainus, and the timbers coming from Cumberland,” said Holmes. “When we buy equipment, we try to buy lo-cally, but sometimes the products we need are south of the border.”
The tender truck to be replaced sits on a model year 2000 Freightliner chassis, meaning it has already served its standard two decades — plus a five-year extension. Holmes told trustees that there were several manufacturers of specialized fire apparatus across Canada that had offerings that might replace the aging truck.
“Having said that, they’re all more ‘assemblers’ [than manufacturers],” he said, “because everything is coming from the states and then get-ting put together.”
The last two trucks purchased by the fire district were from Canadian dealers — Engine 1, assembled by Manitoba-based Fort Garry Fire Trucks, and Brush 2, from Surrey-based Intercontinental Truck Body. Both were built on American-made chassis — Freightliner and Dodge, respectively — and with mostly American-made equipment attached.
Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue currently operates two trucks from Minnesota-based Midwest Fire, Holmes said — Tender 2 at Fulford and Tender 3 at Central — and the board’s direction was to buy the replacement for the Ganges-based Tender 1 from that company as well.
Sourcing from a Canadian company had two central drawbacks: time and money. The Midwest tender truck would arrive in about a year, from among several already on a production line; the Canadian supplier would be delivering at least two years out. The Canadian truck also priced out to cost at least $30,000 more, with a slightly smaller water tank.
Fiscal responsibility notwithstanding, the idea of sending any business south while the two nations’ disagreements persisted didn’t sit comfortably with some trustees. Board chair Rollie Cook said he felt on balance it might be worth spending more to avoid doing it.
“Speaking for myself, I don’t buy American produce,” said Cook. “And if I have to pay a little bit more for Canadian produce, I do.”
The Midwest Fire truck came in at roughly $650,000, Holmes said, with a comparable Canadian-assembled apparatus at $680,000 — “with less water and double the build time,” he added. And with so many parts coming from the U.S., Holmes said, both companies likely had already built tariff costs into their bids.
Ultimately, all but two trustees voted in favour of sourcing from Midwest.
“On our tenders, we’ve had good success with Midwest in the past. We have two right now, we’re happy with the equipment and it’s been a good relationship,” Holmes said. “And their price point is still better.”