Joe Morris recently went through the same thing, except his new truck is no toy. The Hemet fire chief recently accepted a Type 3 wildland brush engine, paid for with casino mitigation fees from the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians.
Gaming tribes pay those fees to mitigate the impact their casinos have on their local communities.
The truck, which the Hemet Fire Department has had for about one month, is 4-wheel drive and can get to areas most fire trucks can. It has a 500-gallon water tank from which firefighters can spray water as the truck moves.
Soboba covered $298,000 of the $304,000 cost of the truck, Morris said.
“We’re very grateful to the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians for helping the city of Hemet acquire its first ever brush engine in its 105 years,” Morris said.
The chief said he has spent five years trying to get such a truck.
Morris said department funds were used to pay the cost difference and the truck was equipped with gear the department already owned.
A plaque was mounted on the truck to thank the tribe and while the Soboba Reservation is covered by the Riverside County Fire Department and not the city of Hemet, Morris said the truck could be used there.
“We’re available and have provided mutual aid here,” Morris said.
In fact, the truck could get more use helping in other communities, as Hemet is relatively flat except for areas such as Simpson Park and Park Hill.
