Town Meeting OKs Spending For New Pumper

Twenty-one Newtown electors, mostly representatives of the town’s volunteer fire fighting companies, authorized the purchase of a new fire truck last Wednesday. The Special Town Meeting August 16 at the Booth Library endorsed a $460,000 bond authorization to purchase a triple combination pumper that will serve the entire community as a standard supply vehicle.

The new apparatus will be stationed at Hook & Ladder’s headquarters behind Edmond Town Hall, and will replace Engine 1, which has served the town since 1979.

Like Engine 1, the new apparatus will be a first responder, serving all fire districts, according to Fire Commissioner William McCarthy. Mr McCarthy, a Hook & Ladder member, also served as head of the design committee that submitted all specifications for the truck.

Mr McCarthy estimated the new pumper will be delivered and put into service by mid-2007. The vehicle is scheduled to be built by the Pierce Manufacturing Company in Appleton, Wis., and will be delivered through Firematic Supply, Co. in Rocky Hill.