The Alexander Fire Department got a legally necessary nod of approval on Monday night to purchase a new $488,572 new fire engine.
The 2023 Spartan Rescue Pumper will be financed by the Bank of Greene County and as part of the financing package, the fire department needed the Town Board of Alexander to pass a resolution supporting the purchase in order to get an exemption on sales tax.
The department will be replacing the current Engine 7, which is a 1998 Spartan.
Department leadership researched various financing options and choose Greene because of the 2.74 percent interest rate and a lack of penalty for early payoff.
After a $200,000 down payment, the department will finance $284,660 of the purchase.
The new truck has a Cummins ISL 450 HP engine, Allison 3000 EVS transmission. It can carry 1,000 gallons of water and 20 gallons of foam. It pumps 1,500 gallons per minute. The Harrison 6K generator can power the LED lighting system.
While LED lights are harder for Mercy Flight pilots to see, using LED lights saved the department a substantial amount of money because generators with greater capacity are more expensive. Department personnel will use flares at night when the truck is deployed to a Mercy Flight landing zone.
The department will attempt to sell the old engine but Assistant Chief/Department President Dean Hendershott said the current market is flooded with used fire apparatus. He said they will try to get the best price they can for it.
Photo: Assistant Chief/Department President Dean Hendershott with a schematic of the new fire truck.
