Brant Pavel was at the Page Fire Department meeting Monday night to present the department with a check from the recent sale of a 1980 Ford Bronco from the department.

The Bronco had originally been purchased as a first-response vehicle. The intention was for the fire chief to take that vehicle to the scene of a fire or accident immediately to report back to the department what was needed as more people arrived. That worked well for a while.

For the past 15 or more years however, the fire chief has lived outside of the town of Page and it wasn't feasible for others to wait for the chief to drive to Page, get the Bronco and go to the scene to see what was needed. In addition, as the number of volunteers has dropped, it didn't make sense to take a vehicle which was not going to have equipment for fighting fire or helping at an accident scene and hoping enough people showed up to bring the vehicles needed.

Since the Bronco had only been driven on meeting nights a few miles for the last 15 or more years, it only had a little over 27,000 miles on it.

When the department decided to sell it, as it was not benefiting the department, Pavel Auction was contacted.

Pavel Auction took pictures, placed them on their website and handled all the advertising and sale activities. The buyer, from Watertown, Wisconsin, picked up the Bronco last week.

Pavel Auction decided since this was for a volunteer department, that in addition to the money earned from the sale, they would donate their commission from the buyer's premium, and presented the Page Fire Department with a check.