The Story Behind the GCFAA Mobile Support & Rehab Vehicle

In March 2003, the GCFAA rolled out its R561 rehab program. Team members used their own vehicles to transport necessary supplies to incident scenes. While that had worked satisfactorily for us, our teams were limited by the requirement either the captain or co-captain drove pickup trucks or SUVs, the only vehicles large enough to transport the rehab supplies R561 needed for a call.

On September 24, 2004, Bill and Carl Trehus attended a meeting of the Texas Citizens Fire Academy Alumni Association held at the Texas Fire Museum in Dallas, Texas. That museum houses a large collection of firefighting apparatus from all over the United States. As he toured the varied vehicles, Bill saw a Chevrolet school bus the museum had obtained in hope of using it to transport schoolchildren to the museum. In anticipation of that use, the museum had restored the bus to good mechanical condition and had painted it fire engine red. Insurance considerations precluded the museum from actually using the bus for hauling children, leading it to become a piece of non-essential equipment taking up space. The museum wanted to sell it.

That sales offer peaked Bill’s interest and he began using his experience as an architect to envision how the bus could be reconfigured to meet the needs of our Rehab Teams. Early the next spring, Bill and Carl returned to the museum to actually test drive the bus and further evaluate its potential. Despite being 20 plus years old, the bus had both an automatic transmission and power steering making it surprisingly easy to drive, considering its size. Both agreed the bus had potential and was "doable." Bill began working on plans to retrofit the bus for possible GCFAA R561 usage.

Bill soon unveiled his potential retrofitting plans for the bus to the GCFAA Board. The drawings were impressive and showed some hard work could transform it into a useful rehab vehicle. Still, the bus was not without its drawbacks, primarily related to its size. Concerns about Rehab Team Members being willing to drive something so big and storage concerns were both voiced. Niel Brieger, then the newest Board Member, presented another idea to consider. He had found some retired ambulances for sale on various website listings and wondered if such a vehicle wouldn’t be a better fit for our needs. Pricing for such retired ambulances were similar to what the bus and its reconfiguration would have been and an ambulance would clearly be easier to drive and store.

Niel and Carl agreed to head to Grapevine’s Station 1 the next morning to look at one of the Grapevine Fire Department ambulances to see how much storage room and other applicability one might afford to us. As they were opening doors and examining the parked ambulances, Capt. Mike Sims happened by to take a piece of equipment to the City’s garage. This was not on one of Mike’s usual shift days so his running into Niel and Carl was one of those lucky coincidences that can change the course of events. Capt. Sims asked what they were up to that morning and the reason for inspecting the ambulance was explained. He replied the Grapevine Fire Department was expecting delivery of three new medic units very soon and that we should ask the City for one of the old ones since they are sent to auction once their replacements arrive. The seed was planted!

Various members of the GCFAA Board had good working relationships with various Fire Department and City Council members, and those contacts were used to determine the feasibility of asking for one of the retiring ambulances for R561 use. Happily, we learned our idea was not so farfetched and worth the try! Bill discussed our request with Fire Chief David Anderson, and Chief Anderson shared his opinion about which of the ambulances, all 1999 Chevrolet Wheeled Coach models, he thought was in the best overall condition. The ambulance at Fire Station 4, Medic 10M4, was at the top of the list. A letter was drafted and sent by Bill to City Manager, Roger Nelson on May 16, 2005. The letter outlined the GCFAA’s history and accomplishments and made a formal request for a donation of one of the ambulances.

But then, unexpected and unforeseen events took place. In early June, 10M4 blew its engine during an emergency run. Even though the new medic units would soon be arriving, the Department could not be without this critical vehicle until then, so a new engine was installed, making 10M4 even more desirable to us. But that was not the end of the unexpected. Both Chief Anderson and City Manger Nelson retired within days of each other and both had been strong proponents for our request. Where would our request stand now? Happily, both Acting City Manager Bruno Rumbelow and acting Fire Chief Chuck Jones, supported our request, so things turned so seemingly topsy-turvy were soon back on track. All we had to do was wait.

During the downtime, housekeeping chores, like getting quotes for insurance and contemplating where to park the vehicle were considered. Also during this period, the City announced it had hired Bedford’s Assistant City Manager, Steve Bass, to be Grapevine’s next Fire Chief. His stellar reputation in fire service and strong advocate for Bedford’s Citizens Fire Academy program continued to give us hope. Finally, our request was published by the City Secretary and were on the agenda for the August 16, 2005 City Council Meeting. Bill alerted our membership and we asked everyone who could to attend that meeting to do so as a show of support. We even had support from various city delegates from the Texas Citizen’s Fire Academy who agreed to attend the meeting.

The excitement was palpable as we walked into chambers for that meeting. The time came to consider the section of the agenda where our request was listed and Mayor William Tate announced he was going out of published order taking our request first. One by one, esteemed members of our City Council took to the microphone thanking our organization for what we did for the City and our Fire Department. It was a humbling experience. Then, by unanimous consent, the order was passed and 10M4 transferred into GCFAA’s proud ownership. What seemed like a dream only months before was now reality!

If ever something was meant to be, it was 10M4 for the GCFAA. Had Bill and Carl not test driven the bus when they did, had Bill not debuted his working drawings when he did, had Niel not found the internet ambulances ads when he did, had Carl and Niel not gone to Station 1 when they did, and had Capt. Sims not been at the Station when he was, our Rehab vehicle story would be much different. So many coincidences could not be happenstance, could they? We believe 10M4 came to us for a reason and we will always do the utmost to maintain the trust our City, our Fire Department, and so many others have placed with us. You can see 10M4 in her new life as the R561 Mobile Support & Rehab vehicle unit on the opening page of our website as well as various pictures of her in service elsewhere on these pages. We look forward to many great years with her!