County Fire Department donates vehicle to Corrales Fire Department

BERNALILLO — Sandoval County Fire Department is donating a 2014 Ford F-550 Super Duty Lariat to the Corrales Fire Department, and Corrales Fire Chief Anthony Martinez is happy about it.

“We actually get requests a lot of time for smaller agencies throughout the county and throughout the state for surplus vehicles,” Sandoval County Fire Chief Eric Masterson said.

Martinez asked Masterson for the vehicle repeatedly for a number of years because he knew it would eventually become a surplus vehicle with the county. However, SCFD can’t just give the truck to Corrales. The Sandoval County Commission first had to vote on the vehicle’s transfer at the Sept. 26 meeting.

Commissioner Jay Block asked if there is a formal process for who gets surplus vehicles from the fire department.

Masterson said that Martinez got the truck simply because he asked first and he asked consistently.

“Chief Martinez has been asking for this vehicle for a little while. We do have other requests for other vehicles right now. I don’t believe we have anything else in the yard right now, but as these vehicles become available, we definitely try to keep them within the county,” he said.

Despite the truck needing some repairs and maintenance, Martinez says the Corrales department can benefit.

“When I saw this firetruck being inoperable I still saw that it had some life to help the citizens of Corrales even though I had to invest in the repair and maintenance of it. We have 100% confidence that we’ll get it up and running to hopefully serve the village for the next five years,” he said.

Masterson also reassured the commissioners that the county’s fire department has been successful in doing its duties with the equipment they have.

Commissioner Joshua Jones asked if the condition of the truck would threaten any lives in the department or the community. Masterson says the last thing they would do is give Corrales FD a vehicle that couldn’t be repaired to the point of being used for its full intended purpose.

“We had that conversation with Chief Martinez. We did advise him the truck does run, but it’s going to need some maintenance and he understood that and still accepted the vehicle. The last thing I want to do, Mr. Jones, is give a department a vehicle that isn’t going to be operable or put the public or firefighters in harm’s way. We want to make sure that it’s something that they can get going and take care of the citizens at the same time,” he added.

The commission unanimously approved the vehicle transfer.