The Calgary Fire Department (CFD) is leasing new-to-them fire trucks and running older ones longer as they deal with delays and cost increases in purchasing new trucks to equip city firefighters.
CFD Chief Steve Dongworth told a Community Development committee meeting last week that after ordering new fire engines, they were told it would be a four-year wait for the first one. The one after would be four-and-a-half years.
Meanwhile, the CFD has embarked on its most ambitious recruiting campaign in years. New fire station builds are nearing completion in Cornerstone and Walden, and upgrades are underway for Inglewood and Varsity. Dongworth said temporary station builds on the books in Yorkville, Hotchkiss, Rockland Park, and Keystone will have to be equipped.
“We’ve actually found, I think probably there have been some cancelations in the industry because of tariffs or something, because we were actually going to get some much sooner than that now, which is good news, but that is kind of the norm, though, in terms of how long we have to wait for equipment, and not just trucks, other sorts of equipment as well,” he told councillors.
Dongworth said that he’s talking with the City of Calgary’s supply management team about the impact of the delays.
“What it means is we’re going to have to think about ordering things earlier if the supply chain isn’t going to change anytime soon. We have to move back our timelines, if you like, in terms of how we manage RFPs, and get to the place where we can actually order stuff knowing that it’s going to take a lot longer to come,” Chief Dongworth said.
“That presents itself with its own challenges.”
According to documents on the City of Calgary website, the CFD currently has about 160 emergency response vehicles.
Delays due to a variety of factors
Some of the biggest fire truck manufacturers in the world are in North America: Rosenbauer, Oshkosh, Rev Group, and Pierce are among the top makers. Calgary recently piloted a Pierce Volterra electric fire truck, stationed in the northwest.
In a late 2023 article providing an outlook on 2024 fire truck availability, Fire Apparatus Magazine outlined some of the supply chain challenges.
They cite longer lead times related to custom chassis versus commercial ones. It also talks about the need for more advanced technology, like collision avoidance, 360 camera systems, side roll protection, and carcinogen detection systems.
Fire departments are also looking for fleet uniformity and for the trucks to be more compact to navigate more dense urban settings.
Improved emissions standards and a challenge with a skilled labour force are also contributing to supply chain disruptions for fire trucks. Tack on challenges with computer chip availability, industry consolidation, and a lag in steel availability, and it compounded the problem, the Chief said.
Chief Dongworth said that while they wait, they’ve had to run some fire trucks longer than they would like. He said they’ve also found other ways to meet the need.
“We’re going to lease some trucks that aren’t quite spec to the customized kind of trucks that we have; they’re much easier to find on the market,” he said.
“We’ve leased four of those trucks to kind of tide us through this time where we adjust to ordering earlier. We’re going to have to change the way we do business, because it doesn’t look like this is going to change anytime soon.”
While they deal with lead times, potential tariff impacts might also mean that the CFD buys fewer trucks.
“We’re waiting to see what the impact of tariffs will be, but that’ll add to the cost. It will, of course, which may mean we buy less, because we have a finite budget,” Chief Dongworth said.
“If it’s going to cost more, we may end up not buying 20 engines, but buying 18 or something, as an example.”
The 2025 Calgary Fire Department operating budget was $271 million. There was a capital request of $21 million for 2025, with $7.2 million allocated for fleet replacement.
