Coventry (might) get a new fire truck!

We aren't a big town, but we are very proud that we may have a new fire truck soon! I hope it's a big red one!! Don't get us wrong... it's not like we don't have one. It's just that it's top speed is 5mph. We are only a villiage of 10,000 people so what did you expect? This story from the Hartford Courant.

Faced with a firetruck that can't go more than 5 mph, the North Coventry Fire Department wants to buy a replacement.

After hearing an appeal by the department earlier this week, the town council has decided to put the $275,000 proposal to a referendum vote, likely by the end of the year.

The department wants to replace its deteriorating, rusty pumper. The transmission on the 20-year-old firetruck doesn't work, welds are cracked and it doesn't meet current standards, Town Manager John Elsesser said.

The town has explored the possibility of trying to rebuild the aging truck, but it could cost as much as $150,000 to get it back up to speed, he said.

"You could put $150,000 into it to try to make it work, but at the end of that you still have a 20-year-old firetruck," Elsesser said.

The truck is lighter weight than traditional firetrucks and has four-wheel-drive, which makes it easier to maneuver on hilly and swampy terrain as it makes its way to a pond for water during a fire.

Bigger pumper trucks are heavier, particularly when weighed down with water. The department has had trouble with them sinking into the muddy earth and having to be towed out, sometimes damaging the truck.

It is also about $75,000 less than the cost of larger firetrucks, he said.

The proposal would go to a town meeting and then on to a referendum. The council has not yet set a firm date for the vote.