Farmingdale Fire Chief Dana Mealey said the groundbreaking was a day he thought he would never see, even though he has served on the department for four decades.  

The road to the new station began in earnest in 2017, when voters approved up to $1 million in funding for a new station. That funding was never secured, however, because it was insufficient to cover the cost of bids received in September 2018. Those bids — all of which were rejected in October 2018 — ranged from $1,543,000 to $1,776,651. Selectman and engineers said skyrocketing material prices were to blame for the high bids.

The vehicle, named “Squad 4,” will become the first vehicle firefighters take to any call, Emergency Management Agency Director Bill Witzell said. “We will equip it to handle everything,” he added.

The $247,670 vehicle has a 2018 Ford F-550 truck chassis with a 1,500-gallon-per-minute pump and a 300-gallon water capacity.