10 New Fire Engines Mark Return to Red
At first blush it might not seem like such a big deal--10 new red fire engines--but for the Ventura County Fire Department, it shatters a more than 20-year tradition.
It’s the color of the engines that is attracting attention in a department that has had yellow engines since about 1972.
The new engines, unveiled this week at stations in Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, are the first to come with the department’s latest color scheme.
The engines come from Kovatch Mobile Equipment in Pennsylvania and cost about $235,000 each.
In coming years, the department plans a transition from banana yellow back to fire-engine red, said Fire Department spokesman Joe Luna.
The decision to return to red was made by Fire Chief James Sewell when he took over the department in 1994. The decision was not based on any study, Luna said, it was made simply because red is considered a more acceptable color for the trucks. “It’s just more favorable to the public to associate red with fire engines,” he said.
Three of the engines were unveiled Wednesday at the department’s Camarillo stations, and three Tuesday in Thousand Oaks. On Monday, the department plans to deliver a new truck to Station 46 in Simi Valley, Luna said.
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