LAWTON – The Fire Department was authorized by the City Council to acquire three new emergency vehicles at a cost of more than $4.7 million via lease-purchase agreements.
The department will pay $2,254,115 for a new aerial ladder truck, $1,135,456 for a new pumper truck, and $1,400,041 for a medical response vehicle, Fire Chief Jared Williams informed the council.
The five-year lease-purchase agreements provide for an initial $440,000 payment on the ladder truck, $209,000 for the pumper, and $218,900 for the medical response unit. Those payments are due on Jan. 15, 2025, city records reflect. The expenditures were factored into the city’s Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget.
It will take approximately 39 to 41 months to manufacture the pumper truck, 26 to 28 months to build the rescue vehicle, and 34 to 36 months to build the ladder truck, Sutphen reported.
Sutphen is a family-owned emergency services vehicle manufacturer founded in 1890 and based in Amlin, Ohio.
The vehicles will be purchased through Heartland Fire Trucks based in Marlow; its service center is located in the Central High area near Duncan.
“Typically what will happen” with the department’s existing vehicles is that when they’re declared surplus “they will be available for bid by area volunteer departments,” said Caitlin Gatlin, the city’s communications manager.