The New Ipswich Fire Department has received a truck to use for combating brush fires, at no cost, through a state program.
“There were a few towns who applied – we were lucky enough to get it,” New Ipswich Fire Chief Meredith Lund said Thursday.
The truck still technically is owned by the state, but will be used exclusively by the New Ipswich department, who will be able to detail it to match the rest of the fire department fleet and modify it for its use. The department can keep the truck for as long as it’s useful, and return it to the state at any point.
“If we want to keep it forever, we keep it forever. If at the end of the year, it’s not meeting our needs, we can turn it back to the state,” Lund said.
The town received the truck through the Federal Excess Property program, which grants the use of state or federally-owned equipment that’s not in use to municipalities.
The truck, a 2004 Stewart and Stevenson, was previously owned by the National Guard and used mostly as a transport truck, Lund said. The state bought the truck two years ago to use as a patrol truck, but didn’t have the funds to properly outfit it, and it has been unused since then.
The truck will replace two New Ipswich vehicles – a 1985 brush truck, which was scheduled to be replaced within the next five years – and a 1978 tanker which the department has been using for transporting water for brush fires.
Lund said the department responds to between 20-25 brush fires or investigations annually, and at the height of the dry parts of the year, it may respond several times a day to brush fire reports. One of the advantages of the truck is it has off-road ability, so crews can bring water to wooded areas.
“It’s going to be a real asset to the department,” Lund said.
The Stewart and Stevenson truck is valued at about $165,000, which is more high-end than the town would have purchased, Lund said. But getting the truck at no cost likely saves the town between $90,000 and $100,000 in equipment purchases.
“It’ll be a great truck and should last us for a long time, long past my time as chief,” Lund said. “Our fleet it in pretty good shape right now, so we’re looking at a few year’s worth of breathing room, where we can replenish our capital reserves. This is a huge plus to us.”
The truck will be outfitted with equipment from the department’s old trucks, Lund said, and those vehicles will likely be sold.