Former fire chief Clive Sparks appeared before council Monday evening asking for budget increases for two of the department's projects.

Sparks asked council to re-allocate $59,000 from the capital budget funds to purchase a HazMat unit, and to enrich the budget by $11,500 to purchase a vehicle exhaust extraction vehicle.

On Tuesday, Sparks handed over his fire chief position to Warren Zakus. Sparks is replacing the city's director of operations, Brian Crist, for six-months.

'Re-allocating the capital budget for the purchase of the HazMat unit will increase the fire department's capability to provide timely and effective services by increasing the number of units available to respond in the event of an emergency,' said Sparks, reading from a prepared statement.

The fire department already has a rescue truck. While Sparks said the HazMat truck will duplicate some of its services, it will also have additional capabilities.

'It will have equipment for incidences such as a fuel spill ... it'll carry other hand tools, auto extraction tools, and will carry a 200-gallon water tank.'

The tender for the purchase of the new HazMat truck was issued Aug. 3 and closed Aug. 23. It received one bid from Whitehorse Motors, the local Ford dealership, for $80,030 with a 180-day delivery on the truck.

The city approved $207,000 for the purchase of pickups, including the HazMat unit. The pickups have already cost more than expected, and Sparks said the costs associated with the HazMat were under-budgeted.

This results in a $51,030 shortfall, plus costs, including the installation of emergency lights and sirens, bringing the total to $59,000.

In the next item before council, Sparks also requested a budget increase to cover the costs of a vehicle exhaust extraction system in Fire Hall #1.

The budget set aside $25,000 for this system, but the lowest bid the fire department received was for $36,500.

'Increasing the funding for the project will allow the work to be completed,' Sparks said.

'The exhaust system is necessary to allow the vehicles to run in the apparatus bay while brake checks are completed.'

Without the system, exhaust gases may pose a health risk to the staff, he said.

Council members will make a decision on the two matters next week.