Colorado Springs Fire Department welcomes new equipment

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Of the 28 engines used to respond to daily calls, the Colorado Springs Fire Department says a few are 17 years old.

Wednesday, KRDO got a look at the brand new fleet expected to hit fire stations in Colorado Springs in the next few weeks.

The new fleet comes after an incident in 2019 when three firefighters were taken to the hospital with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. They were OK, but after some inspection and repair, the engine was put into reserves and replaced with a new one.

Since then, there has been a strong effort to get new engines. There's also a current preventative maintenance program to make sure all engines are in good working order.

The department says an engine costs about half a million dollars, while a truck with a ladder costs about $1 million. The money for the new fleet comes from a general fund and voter sales tax.