NAHANT — Residents will be asked to extinguish a burning problem at the Annual Town Meeting on Saturday.
Voters will consider a $54,600 request to buy a new fire truck to replace an aging engine. Another article requests $75,000 for the purchase of a temporary structure to house the equipment.
The new engine will be purchased using the federal Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG) program, which will provide the town with $445,000 in grant money. The request funds would cover the town’s portion of the cost, according to Fire Chief Michael Feinberg.
The grant money was awarded after the department’s third attempt to secure funding to replace the fire engine, said firefighter Austin Antrim, who has been applying for grants for the department since 2009.
“We designed a new fire engine that we are confident will meet the fire protection needs of the community for the next 20 years,” said Antrim. “The federal grant will cover 90 percent of the cost of the half-a-million-dollar apparatus.”
The new engine will join Engine 31, replacing Engine 32, as a main line apparatus. Engine 32 was purchased used from a department on Long Island, N.Y., more than 30 years ago. If the article passed, the truck will be retired.
“Engine 32 is a 38-year-old Mack fire engine that has served this community very well,” said Feinberg.
The new truck would go in the front bay of the fire house, where Engine 31 is currently stationed. Engine 31 would become the second engine and would reside in the temporary structure. The structure would look similar to what many towns use to store salt and extra equipment. It would be insulated, heated, and have electricity, said Feinberg.
“The engine holds 750 gallons of water and we can’t have that freezing over the winter,” he said.
The current Nahant Fire Station opened in 1953 when the town acquired a building from the U.S. Army when Fort Ruckman was closed.
By the 1970s, the station was inadequate, said Antrim. Modern apparatus does not fit properly in the building, and it does not meet current building and safety codes, he said.
Design and renovations are estimated to cost $300,000 and a Fire Station Committee prepared an article for this year’s warrant for the costs, but later withdrew the article after conversations with the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, and interim Town Manager, said Antrim.
When the new truck arrives, all of the town’s fire apparatus will have been funded through the Assistance to Firefighter Grant program. A federal grant was received to replace an engine in 2004, and to replace the ladder truck in 2011. Five additional grants have been awarded to the department that saved residents $210,000 to replace necessary equipment since 2010, said Antrim.
