Mayor Bill Powalinsky presented Fire Chief Kris Olsen with the keys to Engine 13 on Aug. 11. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

By Susan McNeil

New truck

PA Fire gets new truck

Aug 11, 2025 | 4:48 PM

Prince Albert Fire celebrated the arrival of its new truck on Monday with a ceremonial key transfer and by taking some members of council on it’s first ‘official’ response, a short ride to city hall.

“Prince Albert is proud to announce the addition of our new fire engine designate Engine 13 to its fleet. This custom built engine replaced a 24-year-old apparatus that has reached the end of its operational lifespan,” said Fire Chief Kris Olsen, at the unveiling of the truck in the firehall.

Engine 13 will now be the first response vehicle for PA Fire.

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Getting a new fire engine is a lengthy process, starting with a funding commitment from City Hall, which was $1.3 million for this truck.

Olsen said that council’s continuing commitment to putting money into the city’s fleet reserve is what makes high dollar purchases possible.

“Purchasing essential equipment like this would not be possible, or it would be very difficult,” he said.

This truck began planning in 2022. Once council made their commitment, a team of fire department members plans ‘the build’. That is, they decide what options they want included on the truck.

Engine 13 has a state of the art pump control system and a touchscreen interface that replaces the mechanical levers previous generations of fire trucks have. That makes the crew more accurate and efficient when operating it.

This truck is expected to last another 20 years.

PA Fire unveiled a sister truck to Engine 13 in 2022. It is named Engine 12 and cost about $900,000.

The fire department keeps its old engines as back up trucks for a period of time.

The successful bidder for building the truck was Westpac Industries, a Canadian company.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social