The Fredonia Fire Department is set to acquire a new engine and a ladder truck.

The village Board of Trustees approved purchase of the trucks earlier this month. According to their resolution, the ladder truck will cost $1,977,122 and the engine will be $981,861. The volunteer portion of the fire department is chipping in $250,000 as a down payment and the rest will be financed through Community Leasing Partners.

Fire Chief Joshua Myers told the OBSERVER the department was looking to get new trucks even before he started his job as chief in April 2022.

“This is something that started before I was even hired,” he said. “Things get old and when you talk about fire engines, the one fire engine we’re replacing is 32 years old. It’s just become a maintenance disaster for us.

“It’s the same thing with the tower ladder, which was purchased used. We’ve had nothing but problems with it over its life with Fredonia,” Myers added.

The chief said it was important to get the trucks approved in May, because as of June 1, each truck will cost an additional $100,000. Approving it in May saved village taxpayers’ money, he said, and he thanked the Board of Trustees for doing so.

“It’s not like going to buy an SUV. This stuff is expensive,” he said. “It’s got a 25-year life span so we’re talking about a long-life investment.”

It will be a while until the vehicles are in the fire department’s service — Myers estimated 22 to 24 months.

Fredonia’s purchase of firefighting vehicles comes just weeks after the Dunkirk Common Council approved two new trucks for the city fire department. Like Myers, their chief, Mike Edwards, said the new equipment was badly needed to replace unreliable old vehicles.

For Myers, it’s a simple equation: “Someone calls 911, they expect us to come. We can’t have equipment break on us.”