Superstition Fire and Medical District buying $85K Ford F-150 for fleet rotation

By Richard Dyer
Mail | X: @RHDyer

A Ford F-150 truck with a first-responders light package and tonneau cover totaling nearly $85,000 is to be purchased by the Superstition Fire and Medical District.

“That is going into our fleet rotation. We haven’t determined exactly who that goes to. My staff is recommending it goes to me. I’m recommending that it not go to me,” Fire Chief John Whitney said during the SFMD governing board’s Feb. 18 meeting. “As typical with the rotation, when a new vehicle comes (they) will look at mileage, years, everything like that, and they try to put that into different places.”

The truck is to be purchased with the fire district’s 150 fund through the ambulance revenue in Transportation Services Director Billy Warren’s division, Whitney said.

The SFMD board of directors on Feb. 18 voted 3-0 to approve a commitment to purchase a 2026 Ford F-150 with an eight-year, 150,000-mile Ford premium care warranty. Board members Jeff Cross and Jason Moeller were absent.

It had been on the consent agenda with other items but was pulled by Board Clerk Connie Van Driel for separate discussion.

The 2026 F-150 with warranty and taxes from San Tan Ford is to cost $72,008.06. Additional costs are $10,451.43 for an Arizona Emergency Products light package and $2,500 for a tonneau cover, it states in a memo to the board from Whitney and Warren.

The district needs an additional staff truck as several vehicles in its fleet have reached or exceeded their expected service life, they said.

“Adding this truck would free up a current truck as a reserve vehicle, enabling seamless operations by allowing frontline trucks to undergo scheduled preventive maintenance without disrupting service delivery. When not needed as a backup, the reserve truck could also support administrative personnel for essential tasks, maximizing fleet utilization and improving overall efficiency,” they wrote in the memo.

The district, which is primarily funded by property taxes, provides fire suppression, fire prevention, wildland protection, advanced life support, rescue, extrication and medical transportation services out of five fire stations in Apache Junction and Gold Canyon.

SFMD board meetings are generally held at 5:30 p.m. the third Wednesday of the month at the SFMD Administrative Office, 565 N. Idaho Road in Apache Junction. Agendas are at https://sfmd.az.gov/.

Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines, https://www.yourvalley.net/civility-checklist/.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley

rdyer@iniusa.org

Meet Richard
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.  

Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. 

Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.

Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.

Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.