Albion accepts bid for new fire truck

ALBION – The Albion Fire Department will have a new fire truck in its fleet next year.

The Village Board on Wednesday approved a $668,796 bid from Churchville Fire Equipment, a Pierce Manufacturing dealer, to build the new triple combination pumping engine.

The new truck will replace two vehicles for the Albion Fire Department: a pumper from 1974 and a smaller truck used to respond to motor vehicle accidents. That truck from 2004 has extrication equipment.

The fire department pushed for a new fire truck that is a pumper and also has extrication equipment. That will save the department in maintenance costs and also reduce some manpower needs, Fire Department leaders told the board.

Albion received two other bids for the new truck, but those bidders didn’t meet all the specifications for the new truck, Village Clerk Linda Babcock said today.

The Village Board is expected to soon approve a bond to pay for the truck. The Fire Department paid off the debt on one truck in 2014-15, freeing up money for the new one.

The department has an aging fleet with a pumper from 1992 and a ladder truck from 1995. Fire Chief Harry Papponetti said he expects to get another decade out of those trucks. At a recent Village Board meeting, he praised village mechanics, Dusty DeCarlo and Ray Smith, for giving the fire trucks such an extended life.