Bayou Vista Fire Department gets new truck

By T.J. Aulds in The Galveston County Daily News
It’s 2 feet too long to fit in the fire bay, but Bayou Vista Fire Chief T.J. Lyke couldn’t be happier with his department’s new truck. Hurricane Ike destroyed the department’s main fire fighting apparatus. Two weeks ago, a new pumper truck with more capacity than the department’s two trucks combined arrived.

The new truck, which can hold up to 1,831 gallons of water and is equipped with a special pump that can handle saltwater, cost $370,000. Money the department really didn’t have.

The bulk of the fire department’s funding comes from a voluntary donation residents pay with their water bills each month. Until a couple of months ago, the donation was $10, but residents approved a plan that allowed the department to up that to $15 a month.

“We couldn’t have afforded to get it without the extra money,” Lyke said.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time. In May, the pump on the department’s second truck conked out, and for most of the year Lyke’s mostly volunteer crew borrowed a pumper from another town.

With the new truck in place, the department can focus on fixing the bum pump on Truck No. 2. That may cost about $30,000, the chief said.

Even without it, the department has more than enough equipment to battle any fire in Bayou Vista, Lyke said. But insurance standards require a bit more so that residents’ fire insurance bills can be lowered.

Lyke said he is hoping with the addition of the new truck and the second truck’s pump fixed, insurance ratings for the city can drop as much as two points next spring.