WOLSEY — When Basin Electric Power Cooperative employees Logan Rietveld and Tyler Horn found out that their employer would be surplusing a utility truck and a side-by-side all-terrain vehicle (ATV), they knew immediately where that equipment could serve well.

Both Basin employees are also members of the Wolsey Fire Department, who received the truck and ATV Thursday at the Wolsey Fire Station.

Members of the Wolsey Fire Department were on hand to discuss how this equipment can be of use to their work.

“Most of our calls are for grass fires,” firefighter Dave Jensen relayed. “The side-by-side, especially with tracks, will be used quite a bit in those.”

When fully outfitted, the ATV will hold a tank of water and be able to carry multiple firefighters through terrain that is often too rough and/or soil that is too soft for the large fire trucks that the department owns.

The utility truck will be stripped down and outfitted similar to an existing work truck that the department has.

Jensen noted that the upkeep on the larger trucks puts high value on smaller vehicles when fighting fires.

“We joke that (the large trucks) are now ‘pavement princesses’ because we prefer to only utilize them on good roads,” Jensen chuckled. “The expense of upkeep on the big rigs is just so high that it doesn’t make sense to bounce over a guy’s field in them when the smaller stuff will do.”

The Wolsey Fire Department received two donated vehicles from Basin Electric Power Cooperative. The white utility truck on the left will be converted to look similar to the existing department truck on the right. Also pictured is an ATV that was donated.