Foothill Fire Protection District

No one in Valley Springs would ever believe that the newest fire engine to join the Foothill Fire Department's fleet was purchased for only one dollar. Fire Chief Mike Siligo verifies that this is indeed the case and that he was part of the events that brought this piece of equipment to our Fire Department.

Early this fall a Woodside Fire Department firefighter, who lives in Sonora, was on his way to the State Fair and stopped at Station #1 so his young daughter could use the rest room.  While the firefighter was waiting for his daughter, Fire Chief Siligo happened to be at Fire Station #1 and engaged in a conversation with him. The firefighter noticed our parked #147 Fire Engine as the old engine #9 from Menlo Park Fire Department. The firefighter stated that he knew of a similar Fire Engine that might be available from the Woodside Fire Department that he works for.  Woodside Fire and Menlo Park Fire are both in the Santa Clara Fire District.

Fire Chief Mike Siligo arranged for Foothill Fire department's mechanic Don Clark, and himself to go take a look at the engine to evaluate its condition. When they went down to check out the engine they found a 1994 Pierce/Lance Engine with 144,000 thousand miles on it. It was a 1,250 gpm pumper with a 750 gallon tank capacity. The Woodside Department personnel had been unable to sell this engine due to the high mileage on the engine. Since it was considered surplus equipment by their department, they decided they would donate it to an interested fire department. After Don Clark and Fire Chief Mike Siligo checked out the condition of the fire engine, they decided that this would be a great piece of equipment for the Foothill Fire Department.  The Woodside Fire Department personnel made an offer to Fire Chief Siligo to purchase the engine for the price of ONE DOLLAR.  By actually exchanging money for this piece of equipment, the transfer would become legal. This was an offer that could not be refused!   The engine also has approximately $6,000.00 worth of attached equipment that saved the Fire Department even more money.

The much needed engine also complies with NFPA fully enclosed cab regulations as well.  The new engine was purchased and brought back to Valley Springs the same day where Foothill Fire mechanic Don Clark started doing some minor repairs on it.  Engine #142 is now the latest piece of equipment for our Foothill Fire Department.