PEABODY — It’s been three years in the making, but the Peabody Fire Department has finally received its new PS Enforcer Fire Engine 3 truck, which arrived this week and will be stationed on Prospect Street.

Fire Chief Jay Dowling said at Friday morning’s ceremony that he had ordered the engine in July of 2023 and that the department just received the truck this week after it passed inspection in Wisconsin and then in Walpole.

The department will also be receiving an Engine 5 truck in the next two weeks and will be looking to order a new Engine 7 truck in the “near future,” likely this fall.

“The firefighters love it, so we decided to go with PS for our engines,” Dowling said when asked about the significance of the PS pump. “Now [there’s] two beautiful engines. We’re hoping for good things with them.”

As for next steps, training has begun to get firefighters familiar with the new truck, and it will continue into next week. The crew will also receive pump training then as well.

“We’re looking to get this into service in the first week of September,” Dowling said.

As for the current Engine 3, Dowling also clarified that it will be moved to Tremont Street and will run as Engine 4. The department will then use the current Engine 4 and 5 trucks as spares.

“This is something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” Mayor Ted Bettencourt said. “It’s been a three-year odyssey to have this truck built and delivered.”

While the arrival of the new engine is a celebratory and crucial win for the department, Bettencourt did express his concerns about how long it took for the engines to arrive. And then there’s the matter of the price.

“That’s unacceptable to have that type of delay in ordering. Our fire department needs and deserves this equipment,” he said. “We’ve entered into a class action lawsuit against the manufacturers of fire trucks over a claim of violation of monopoly laws. Specifically, we believe that they bought out a lot of the smaller manufacturers of fire trucks and now have jacked the prices up considerably.”

The engine that they have now is “just under a million dollars,” according to Bettencourt, while the new engine they’re ordering will cost around $1.3 million. While he’s ultimately glad that the department is now equipped with the engines they need, protecting their citizens and residents within the town is the priority.

“It certainly helps the department improve equipment, but it has been very frustrating that it’s taken this length of time,” Bettencourt said.

The post Peabody receives new fire engine appeared first on Itemlive.

Source link

24World Media does not take any responsibility of the information you see on this page. The content this page contains is from independent third-party content provider. If you have any concerns regarding the content, please free to write us here: contact@24worldmedia.com