Crime & Safety

Fire Department Sends Truck to Texas and Police Department Anticipating New Cruisers

"The Old Girl" heads west.

In a span of about 20 hours, the town said hello to two new police vehicles and goodbye to a fire truck that is heading west to help out a rural department in Texas.

The fire truck, a 1989 Sutphen/Ranger pumper, has been in service locally since it was purchased in 1990. The Town Council on Tuesday approved its sale to the Bowman Community Fire Department in Archer County, Texas for $16,000.

Mounted on a flatbed truck, the pumper rolled out of the firehouse lot on Hartford Turnpike across from the police station at about 3:30 p.m. A short time earlier, it pulled out of its bay at the local station on Prospect Street for the last time. 

Chief William Call and a contingent of firefighters paid what Call affectionately calls "the old girl" a farewell and it began the 1,700-mile journey west.

It has been a good year so far for the Fire Department in terms of vehicles. Not only has it forged a new friendship in Texas, but it is welcoming two new pumpers and a new rescue truck. They coast about $500,000 each and Call hopes to have them in service in July.

Meanwhile the police are getting two new Ford Crown Victoria cruisers with some available funds.

The council gave the go-ahead for the purchase on Tuesday.

Lt. William Meier said on Wednesday that the two cars are replacing aging cars that will be used as backup vehicles when the new cruisers arrive.

The pair of cruisers costs $48,216 and the vehicles are available right away under a state of massachusetts procurement contract with MHQ out of Marlborough, MA, according to Finance Officer and Treasurer James Luddecke.

Luddecke said there is a limited quantity on a first-come, first-served basis.

A good amount of equipment - $9,000 worth - on the older cars can be moved over to the news ones to keep costs down.

The town is paying for them through $8,372 from vehicle sale proceeds, $22,176 left over from vehicle replacement programs. The $19,700 balance will be taken from the capital non-recurring expenditures account, Luddecke said.

The cost can be taken off the 2012-13 budget request, Luddecke said.


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