Wolf Lake council hears RMH 25th annual ride to stop in town

By Matthew Johnson

Reporter

The Wolf Lake Fire Department (WLFD) is in the process of selling one of its fire trucks in order to help pay for the remainder owed on a new one yet to be assembled and likely to be added to the department’s fleet by the end of September.

Wolf Lake Fire Chief Brock Anderson told the Wolf Lake City Council during its Tuesday, May 12, regular monthly meeting that the sale process will include sealed bids followed by awarding of the sale the first part of September. He indicated the truck, a 1992 model, was originally not a fire truck but was converted into one for the department in the early 2000s, and he could see someone, possibly a local farmer, being the winning bidder. The idea is to acquire the new pumper tender fire truck from Midwest Fire out of Luverne, Minn., shortly after awarding the sale of the older one.

“Hopefully, it can all happen within two to three weeks of each other,” Anderson said. “And then if we need to use that money to pay the short that we are, otherwise that’s going to go in the major equipment fund.”

The chief indicated the department is roughly $10,000 short of paying off the cost of the truck and the sale of the older model will be posted on social media.

The process of acquiring the new truck has been years in the making. Chief Anderson said when the department began looking into having this one assembled, the original cost was around $200,000, but that more than doubled before locking in a $442,485 price the spring of 2025 with the help of a Sourcewell contract. Without that, the cost would’ve continued to climb due to inflation. Officials had determined a payment plan for the truck was feasible even though the department did not receive a FEMA grant that it applied for in 2024. The original scheduled completion of the fully assembled fire truck was November of this year, but the department is expecting it a couple months earlier.

The community support of the WLFD continues to be impressive, Anderson said. He said the turnout at the department’s 37th annual pancake and sausage feed from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, March 15, is a prime example.

“The pancake feed was a huge success,” he said. “So, thank you everybody who attended. Our community really gives to their fire department in five hours.” 

The WLFD has responded to 23 total calls this year as of the council meeting. Fourteen of those calls were from the past two months; 10 fire-related calls, two rescue assists and two mutual aid fire calls.

In other news

• Reviewed liquor store April sales, which were the highest they’ve been in at least the past six years.

• Passed a motion approving the Wolf Pack Snowmobile Club raffle for Saturday, Jan. 23, 2027.

• Confirmed that the 25th Annual Ronald McDonald House Ride to support the Red River Valley Ronald McDonald House Charity will be stopping for lunch on its way through Wolf Lake Saturday, June 13. Past discussion included possibly serving bikers brats and beverages along with other good eats for lunch for a free-will offering.

• Regular monthly meetings of the Wolf Lake City Council are usually held at 7:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month at city hall.