The fire department’s seven-person truck selection committee deliberated for more than 10 months on every detail that went into the engine. Archer, a member of the committee, said the idea to stray from tradition and go blue came from the younger firefighters who grew up playing on Big Blue sports teams, and whose children play on them now.

The process for getting a new engine began in 2017, after the department received approval from the Capital Improvement Committee, Finance Committee and annual Town Meeting to use funds from the budget to pay for it. Then, Archer said they put it out to bid for a year before deciding to go with Seagrave, a manufacturer based in Wisconsin.

A 2009 city fire engine and crew were responding to an emergency call with lights and sirens when the fire truck was struck on the front right side by a passenger vehicle at the intersection of Sand Lane and Green Street, according to Henderson Fire Department Chief Scott Foreman.

No firefighters were hurt in the collision, although the Buick passenger vehicle's driver was taken to the hospital. Meanwhile, the fire truck -- which the fire department had hoped to get another 10 years of service from -- has been totaled.