The town of Hermon is spending about $50,000 for a used fire truck because a new truck voters approved last year is nearly two months behind schedule in arriving.
The town is buying the used truck from a municipality in South Carolina after its backup truck, which had been in service since 1996, failed inspection due to frame rust, Fire Chief Frank Roma said.
If the new pumper truck voters approved at their town meeting last year had arrived by its July 1 delivery date, the town would simply have made its current primary truck, which it bought in 2009, the backup truck for fire crews.
Instead, the used truck will fill the backup role until the new truck arrives. The town will then sell the used truck once the new truck is in service.
“Because of our robust mutual aid system with other communities, Hermon residents have not been and won’t be without coverage,” Roma said. “Because this is a secondary vehicle the community has not been endangered.”
Voters unanimously approved spending $585,683 for a new fire truck at their annual town meeting in June 2021. The truck was to be built by a Michigan firm.
About $430,000 was to come from the fire department’s reserve account, and the balance to come from the budget approved at the annual town meeting held in June.
Roma said the delay in the new truck’s delivery was due to supply chain problems in the aftermath of the pandemic.
The chief said that he does not yet have an estimated delivery date.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends that frontline apparatus be moved to reserve status after 15 years of age and that apparatus over 25 years old be replaced.