By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
A gem of Okarche’s firefighting history is in search of a new home after the department purchased a tanker last week.
The 1991 bright lime-green tanker’s repairs became a burden on the department and it was time for an upgrade.
“It’s still in use, we’re not retiring it,” Chief Steve Liebl said. “We’re probably going to take bids on it but stipulate that it goes to another fire department if at all possible. There are other departments less fortunate than we are.”
The new 3,000 gallon truck cost $338,000 and will be paid for from the proceeds of Kingfisher County’s quarter cent sales tax passed by voters several years ago.
“A certain percentage of it is spread out to fire departments in the county,” Town Administrator Richard Raupe said. “Garfield County was the first one to do that (tax). You can tell the counties that have a sales tax and those that don’t because they’re still doing pancake breakfasts to pay for gas.”
Funds to county fire departments have slowed down as the Kingfisher County jail has taken priority until its paid off.
“We let our county funds build up,” Liebl said. “We didn’t just decide to buy it and figure out how to pay for it later.” The new tanker is in Oklahoma City where it is being fitted with radios and other equipment.
“We think we’ll have it in service by the end of December,” Liebl said.
