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The Dewey City Council approved the surplus of the Dewey Fire Department’s 1993 GMC Truck on Tuesday night.

This opened the door for the tanker to be traded for a bigger truck from the fire department in Caney, Kansas. The Dewey City Council approved the trade of the vehicle for a 1990 Harsco that is six-by-six and weighs 5 tons.

Dewey Fire Chief Chad Schueler said his department can carry 750 more gallons of water to a fire with the newly acquired truck. He said with a 5-ton like the Harsco (pictured), they like what it has, but they are looking to upgrade the vehicle so it could carry 3,000 or 4,000 total gallons because it has a dual axel.

Chief Schueler said the biggest thing is that the truck will help Dewey Fire maintain their improved ISO rating that they worked hard to get. In November, the Dewey Fire Department went from a 5 classification to a 3 classification on a 1 to 10 scale. 1 is the best rating a department can receive.

Training will be required for some to have permission to drive the tanker from Caney. Chief Schueler said these are some of the most dangerous trucks a fire department can operate, and with having a bunch of oung guys at the department, they do not want to take any chance. With that in mind, Chief Schueler said they do have experience personnel to jump in the tanker right away if an emergency called for the vehicle to be used.

The tanker truck is used to fill brush trucks that go out to fire calls right away. They are the last vehicles that arrive on the scene, and the vehicle is used to fill brush trucks that are attending to the fires. Chief Schueler said Washington County brought Dewey Fire a 2,000 gallon dump tank to attach to the side of the Harsco tanker truck that will be acquired in the trade with the Caney Fire Department.

Mayor Tom Hays said he spoked with Fred Gress, the Caney City Council's City Manager and that they had approved in their own city council meeting for the trade to occur with Dewey. Kevin Trease, Dewey's City Manager, suggested that an official legal document be drafted that states the trade agreement has been approved by all parties.