As chief departs, fire district fleet improvements continue

The board on Dec. 30 authorized the district to order a new stock Pierce Enforcer Pumper truck.

In the 11th hour of Chief Matt Vinci’s tenure as fire chief of Vashon, which ended last Friday, upgrades to Vashon’s firefighting fleet continued apace for the fire district.

At a December 30 board meeting, fire commissioners unanimously authorized Vinci to put in a purchase order for a new fire engine to serve the Burton Fire Station. After the arrival of the new fire truck, the engine currently used in Burton — a newer engine purchased in 2019 — will replace a 25-year-old engine that is currently housed at the district’s Dockton Station.

That 25-year-old engine, said both former chief Vinci and current Deputy Chief Ben Davidson, has been plagued with ongoing repair issues, due to a lack of available parts, and also lacks many features including modern braking, airbags and cameras that are now standard in newer engines. Vinci’s presentation to the board on Dec. 30 included lengthy documentation of these and other deficiencies in the old engine which had been prepared for the meeting by the district’s fleet mechanic, Mike Bredice.

The board action at the Dec. 30 meeting authorized Vinci and Deputy Chief Ben Davidson, who is now leading the district, to order a new stock Pierce Enforcer Pumper truck to be purchased from Hughes Fire Equipment in Tacoma. The district also contracted with the company for another new fire engine, delivered to the island last fall, which is now in service at the district’s Station 55, on Bank Road.

The new engine will be readied for service by Pierce Manufacturing, at its Florida plant. Payment for the engine, which will cost approximately $950,000, will not be due until the truck is delivered to Vashon, in 12-14 months.

Both Vinci and district financial director Christina Bosch said, at the Dec. 30 meeting, that the district will easily have sufficient capital funding to pay the cost in full when the new engine arrives in 2026.

Throughout his two-and-a-half-year tenure as fire chief, one of Vinci’s most important priorities was to upgrade Vashon’s equipment and fleet, which he said had become dangerously outdated, posing a safety threat to both the public and first responders.

New rescue rig

After a farewell luncheon held on Friday for Vinci on his last day as chief, staff members in attendance trooped outside to take part in a “push-in” ceremony — a ritual for new firefighting apparatus that dates back to the time when fire engines were drawn by horses and had to be pushed back into fire stations.

Friday’s ceremony was for a Ford 520 truck, purchased by the district in 2023, that has now been upgraded and retrofitted by Bredice to serve as a rig to carry rescue and rehab equipment to fire and rescue scenes.

It was a long-awaited occasion for fire commissioner and EMT Brigitte Schran Brown, who seemed almost giddy to say goodbye to the vehicle that the retrofitted truck had replaced — a bright yellow, more than 30-year-old beer truck that had long ago been retrofitted and put into service by the district.

Schran Brown said she had often arrived at fire and rescue scenes to find that the truck wasn’t there because no one had been available to drive it — to do so, she said, required a special license. Not having the equipment truck at fire scenes, she said, made it impossible for her to properly deliver rehabilitation services to firefighters coming out of fire scenes.

The tall yellow truck was also not safe to drive on icy roads, she said.

Asked if the truck had ever broken down, Schran Brown laughed.

“It’s a more-than-30-year-old beer truck. What do you think?” she asked.

The truck — now moved across the street from Station 55 to the parking lot of the Penny Farcy Building — will be sold as surplus by the district, Vinci said.

Lending a hand at the ceremony was fire service veteran Mike Kirk — who for almost 60 years has served VIFR mostly as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, but also in leadership roles including chief and assistant chief.

Kirk — who shared his own dramatic memories of the boxy beer truck — was given tours of the newly outfitted truck by Vinci and Deputy Chief Davidson, who is now tasked with leading the district as a search for a new fire chief begins.

Matt Vinci shows Vashon fire district stalwart Mike Kirk — who has served the district in varying capacities for almost 60 years — the features of the district’s new rescue and support rig. (Elizabeth Shepherd photo)

Matt Vinci shows Vashon fire district stalwart Mike Kirk — who has served the district in varying capacities for almost 60 years — the features of the district’s new rescue and support rig. (Elizabeth Shepherd photo)

Staff of Vashon Island Fire Rescue surround Matt Vinci (center) on Friday, after a luncheon on his last day as Vashon’s fire chief. Deputy Chief Ben Davidson (second from right) now leads the district. (Elizabeth Shepherd photo)

Staff of Vashon Island Fire Rescue surround Matt Vinci (center) on Friday, after a luncheon on his last day as Vashon’s fire chief. Deputy Chief Ben Davidson (second from right) now leads the district. (Elizabeth Shepherd photo)