WATERTOWN — City Fire Department officials are frustrated about the nation’s supply chain issues delaying three fire trucks getting on the road.
It’s going to take 515 days for a manufacturer to deliver a Rosenbauer fire pumper engine to the department to replace one at the State Street fire station.
The city planned to spend $620,000, but the city was forced to bond $785,000 for the pumper engine instead, Fire Chief Matthew R. Timerman said.
The department is also buying a new ladder truck for $1.39 million to replace a 36-year-old aerial truck.
The order is in, but it’s not going to be delivered until 2024. Fortunately, the ladder truck is coming in a little below the $1.4 million budgeted amount, the chief said.
The subject came up during a recent meeting on the proposed $56.5 million city budget.
“These are big numbers,” Chief Timerman acknowledged to City Council members.
The fire truck purchases are happening as the department is trying to get repairs done on two other trucks in its fleet.
Ladder truck 1 has been out of service for three months while it gets repaired. The existing engine 2 pumper also needs major repairs.
When the new one finally arrives, the existing pumper will be put into reserved status, Deputy Fire Chief Michael D. Kellogg said.
Chief Timerman has been trying to get answers about when the repairs will be done and the trucks can go back on calls.
“It’s supply chain,” Deputy Chief Kellogg said. Delays and added costs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation have plagued all kinds of industries nationally.
Fire truck manufacturers and service companies are having trouble with staffing and getting equipment, Chief Kellogg said.
The new ladder truck — made by KME with a mid-mounted ladder — will replace an E-One aerial that has been in operation since 1986. The 2004 Pierce ladder truck would then be used as a backup. The purchase is included in the city’s 2020-21 capital budget.
Last year, a Pennsylvania company, Ariel Testing, determined that more repairs are needed to the 2004 Pierce truck, and it would cost at least another $500,000 because its chassis must be replaced.
The 36-year-old ladder truck will be retired; it will be 38 years old when the new one is finally delivered, Chief Timerman said.
