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Westbrook Fire Department Boat Contracts Awarded

Saving lives in an emergency requires that the equipment on which the responders depend must be reliable. For the Westbrook Fire Department, both the inflatable rescue dinghy and the fireboat’s engines failed to meet that test, so town officials planned and approved funding for replacement of both in the current fiscal year, in the capital plan.

The department’s current inflatable Zodiac dinghy can no longer stay inflated for more than a few days. The Zodiac boat is used by the department for rescues and emergency responses in shallow water.

The Fire Department got five quotes for a new boat. Fire Chief Mike Jenkins told the Board of Selectmen (BOS), after reviewing the quotes, that the department recommended the contract be awarded to the low bidder, Dinghy Pro, for a bid of $7,854. That firm also offered the town $500 for a trade-in of the current Zodiac.

The BOS voted to award the contract to Dinghy Pro as recommended.

Another Fire Department boat fix, up to $60,000 to replace the two outboard motors that propel the fireboat, was also included in the town’s capital plan for the current year. On July 17, Fire Chief Mike Jenkins told the BOS the Fire Department had received a bid from just one company, Atlantic Outboard. However, that bid included three options, based on different outboard motors. The cheapest option, purchase of two Evinrude motors, is also the one that the Fire Department’s chief recommended. Jenkins said the current fireboat is equipped with Evinrude motors so they are comfortable with that choice.

The BOS voted to award the bid for the two outboard motors to Atlantic Outboard, as recommended by the Fire Department.