After Fire, Grass Valley Animal Sanctuary Buys Fire Truck
GRASS VALLEY (CBS13) — It's an unusual purchase out of Nevada County: An animal sanctuary now has its own fire engine.
Animal Care in Grass Valley just bought the engine last week from the Higgins Fire District after a compost fire next-door burned up to its property line in June.
That fire scare at the sanctuary in June ended with Animal Care Director, Hannah Beines, jokingly asking the Higgins Fire District for one of its engines.
She wasn't expecting the answer to be yes.
"If there was a fire or if there was any sort of emergency we could get it partially under control," Beines said.
The sanctuary sits on 600 acres, and houses more than 500 farm animals, mostly kept in metal sheds, in case of a wildfire.
"We have about 350 chickens, turkeys, rabbits, goats, pigs, donkeys," Beines added.
Beines says the incident in June ignited the sanctuary's interest in getting its own fire engine.
"The entire sanctuary could have been at risk," she said.
The engine originally cost the fire district about $300,000 and carries 750 gallons of water. It retired from the Higgins Fire District last July. Since then, Chief Jerry Good has been looking to find it a good home.
The engine is extra security at the sanctuary, dousing any fear of fire,
Beines and her colleagues are now ready to extinguish.
The fire engine will be used to put out spot fires. The sanctuary will still call 9-1-1 if there's ever a fire.