On July 15, the Board of Selectmen voted to endorse a $575,000 bonding appropriation that will be used to acquire a new four-seat fire tanker that will be stationed at the Hawleyville Volunteer Fire Company headquarters on Hawleyville Road.

Once it is designed, built, and placed in service, the custom-designed apparatus will be the final of four new fire tankers recently requisitioned and owned by the town. The bonding appropriation is expected to be approved by the Board of Finance and Legislative Council in the coming weeks.

Board of Fire Commissioners Chairman Pat Reilly and apparatus committee liaison Tim Whelan from Sandy Hook Fire & Rescue appeared before selectmen to respond to questions ahead of the unanimous vote.

Mr Whelan said the assembly of the new tanker will be completed by Granite Fire Apparatus company of Pelham, New Hampshire, in cooperation with 4 Guys Fire Trucks in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania.

He said fire commissioners believe the final expenditure to be about $540,000 after an anticipated $20,000 trade-in allowance on an approximately 25-year-old tanker currently in service.

As part of a regular replacement program, Newtown purchased three tankers of four to be eventually acquired. Since the anticipated costs of the trucks escalated, the initial allocation could only cover three, which have been placed in service in Sandy Hook, Botsford, and Dodgingtown.

Mr Whelan said those initial three tankers were all similarly equipped, and that Sandy Hook volunteers opted to fund about $8,000 in added shelving and lighting on that assigned apparatus. Similarly, the Dodgingtown volunteer company put $12,000 in additional outfitting on their tanker.

Botsford Fire Rescue took delivery and put the third tanker of the four slated to be purchased in service as ordered.

Mr Whelan said the fire commissioners and apparatus committee hope to acquire the Hawleyville tanker with original specifications that include a four-man cab, although from most other aspects, it will be of the same design and on the same maintenance platform as the other three new tankers.

He added that the shelving and lighting that was retrofitted by Sandy Hook and Dodgingtown is “much easier to do at factory.”

“It costs more to up-fit later,” Mr Whelan explained.

He said with Newtown being among the largest towns in Connecticut in terms of geography, the biggest challenge is getting water to fires.

“Typically, we may need to travel five to six miles for water,” Mr Whelan said. Any large fires occurring in neighborhoods without hydrants and town water lines typically have water brought in shuttle fashion, by a number of tankers constantly running to and from the water supply point.

The current municipal apparatus replacement schedule for fire takers is 25 years, although several in service have lasted as long as 30.