The new engine at Station 55 is a Sutphen model, built this year. The base cost is $590,137, with total expenses reaching $675,137 after additional equipment purchases.
MVFD Fire Chief Steve Johnson said that interim Chief Andy Harp ordered the Station 55 engine from Columbus-based Sutphen Corp. in 2021 prior to Brandon Barnett and then Johnson becoming fire chief and before voters approved a levy in November 2022.
“It was ordered out of necessity due to an aging fleet and increasing maintenance costs as it was slated to replace a 1995 fire engine,’ Johnson told this news outlet. ”We continued to experience significant maintenance issues and costs with maintaining an aging fleet that, as you can see with our response numbers, necessitated the additional purchase of the second engine that was received earlier this year."
MVFD firefighters and city of Miamisburg officials participated in a traditional “push-in” ceremony May 27 at Station 55 at 5204 N. Springboro Pike in Moraine.
The ceremony dates back to the days of horse-drawn equipment when members had to push the equipment into the bay after each call, Miamisburg officials said.
In April, MVFD dedicated Fire Engine 51 for Station 51, 10899 Wood Road. The district purchased the 2025 Spartan at a cost of $827,000, with total expenses reaching $917,000 after additional equipment purchases.
Miami Valley Fire District has 78 operational employees responding to calls for service in Miamisburg and Miami Twp., which has a combined population of 52,000. For 2024, it responded to 10,836 calls for service. Of those, 7,385 were EMS calls, while 3,409 were fire-related calls.
Johnson said the 2022 levy provided the funds and opportunity to purchase the second engine which was ordered from the Spartan Corp and was able to be built in under a year as opposed to the 3-year build on the Sutphen.
“These build times are unprecedented in our industry and the reasons why are still much up for debate,” he said.
The arrival of the first Spartan engine allowed MVFD to replace the engine at Station 51, which was the 1995 originally slated to be replaced by the Sutphen. The arrival of the Sutphen at Station 55 replaced an engine built in 2004.
“Both engines were well outside their life expectancy for fire apparatus with such a heavy response workload,” Johnson said. “The levy made the purchase of the Spartan possible, without which the Sutphen would have replaced the 95 as planned and station 55 would have remained in a 21-year-old apparatus.”
Johnson said that following a complete maintenance overhaul, inspection and necessary repairs, the 2004 engine will live on as a reserve apparatus, “with obviously a much reduced workload, but with a little more usefulness.”
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