GR Fire Dept. to save money with smaller vehicles | News

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM)- You've heard of the SUV.  Later this year, the Grand Rapids Fire Department will have QRV's - three of them.  They are Quick Response Vehicles, smaller, more agile equipment that require fewer people and will help the department save money.

Grand Rapids city commissioners Tuesday approved spending about $873,000 for the new equipment that Fire Chief Laura Knapp will pay for themselves in just over two years, with $21 million savings projected over the next 15 years.

The machines use two firefighters instead of three or four on traditional sized trucks.  Knapp says they are more flexible, and will allow the department to meet it's mandate of reducing it's budget by 10 percent.

The department is preparing for the year 2015, when a special public safety millage and a firefighting federal grant come to an end.

That will reduce the firefighting staff by 12 positions, Knapp said.