Broken Arrow Fire Department now has a seventh ambulance in service.
Chief Jeremy Moore said he’s been working with the city council for several months to get it for Fire Station 7, which opened in January 2016 on Elm Place north of 101st Street with only a fire truck.
"With the graduation of those recent cadets, which was only made possible through the support of our city council and through our citizens with the Vision extension and those back-to-back SAFER grants, we're able to have the adequate number of personnel so that we can stand up Squad 7," Moore said in a video to Broken Arrow firefighters.
Squad 7 will use a reserve ambulance until the city receives three new units, which were approved Tuesday.
"We know it's going to be difficult, and we're going to have to be really relying on fleet maintenance to make sure and keep enough squads in service until we get these three new ones in. But we're really excited about it," Moore said.
More than 75 percent of Broken Arrow Fire calls are for medical response.
"It's a great service to our citizens. We're going to keep those run times even lower than normal. We're going to enhance the coverage areas for the city all over for EMS," Moore said.
Moore said to keep the fleet current, the city needs to buy three new ambulances every other year for the next eight years. That's based on an ambulance having a useful life up to five years and 100,000 miles.
Broken Arrow Fire Department offers its own emergency medical services. Tulsa, Jenks, Bixby and Sand Springs have contracts with EMSA.
