The McMinnville Safety Committee voted to forward to the full board a recommendation to purchase a battery-operated cutter, spreader and hydraulic ram to outfit a new fire engine expected to arrive in the coming months.

Committee members were told the three-piece set is battery operated and will remove the need for a gasoline-powered hydraulic unit. A Fire Department representative said the tools are comparable to existing equipment and “very capable tools.”

The recommendation matters because Ladder 2 is currently the only vehicle that carries the department's portable extrication equipment and runs citywide; the battery-operated tools would allow deployment from multiple stations and reduce response constraints. The Fire Department representative told the committee each battery lasts about 23 minutes and the department would carry six batteries with the tools.

During discussion, committee members asked whether the tools would be effective on modern vehicle construction. The Fire Department representative said they “should be able to” extricate occupants from electric vehicles such as Teslas but noted some vehicle materials, described in the meeting as akin to tungsten steel, are more difficult to breach and require more time.

The presenter said the equipment purchase would use an HDAC contract and that the items had been budgeted for the new engine. A committee member moved to approve the recommendation; another member seconded. After an aye vote, the committee chair said the item will be sent to the full board for final approval.

Next steps: the committee’s recommendation will go to the full board; staff did not specify a full procurement timeline at the meeting.