Petersburgh Fire Truck Vote Is Tuesday

by Alex Brooks
The Petersburgh Fire Department is holding a vote this Tuesday, March 27, at the fire house from 6 to 9 pm for approval of the purchase of a new fire truck. The truck they are replacing is a 1956 pumper which they call “the Maxin” after the company which made it. That truck cost $17,000 in 1956, and it was refurbished in 1976 at a cost of $17,000. [private]This truck is so old that it has become difficult to get parts for it. Three years ago it was idled by a brake problem, and it was out of service for six months while the Department searched for a small brake part that was needed to make the repair. When the new truck arrives, the old Maxin will be put up for sale. Terry Neaton, Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, said it may have some value as an antique.
The new truck is a 4 wheel drive Initial Attack/Brush Truck with 300 gallon capacity, with compressed air foam. It is about the same size as the truck it is replacing, which is small by modern standards.
A Fire Department committee has been researching this truck and planning for the acquisition for three years. The price will not exceed $262,000. The Department has $112,000 in an apparatus reserve fund, and they will bond $150,000 over 5 years.
Neaton said he does not expect this purchase to result in any tax increase. The Department has been putting $30,000 per year into the apparatus reserve fund for the past three years, and now it will pay about the same amount per year in bond payments.[/private]