The Cortez Fire Protection District on Tuesday donated a truck to the Egnar-Slickrock Fire Protection District, bolstering the San Miguel County department’s resources as the fire season approaches.
Egnar Fire Chief Ian Fahring said his department contacted Cortez to buy discounted parts for an existing truck. But Cortez Fire Chief Jeff Vandevoorde said he instead offered to donate the brush fire truck, since the district recently acquired a new one. The roughly 20-year-old truck will be the newest in Egnar-Slickrock’s fleet.
“It’s nicer than any vehicle we’ve got,” Fahring said. “It takes almost a year to get a grant or do anything like that, so with fire season coming up, this will help us tremendously.”
The Egnar district covers about 360 square miles in San Miguel County, is made up of volunteers and has an annual budget of $28,000. Vandevoorde said he felt the donation would be “a nice gesture,” since Egnar-Slickrock occasionally helps with fires near Cortez.
The Cortez district recently donated equipment to the West Fork Fire Department, northeast of Dolores. The department is “in its infancy,” said assistant Cortez chief Shawn Bittle, and its future chief is training in Cortez.