His wife Nancy, standing by the ex-chief, noted, "This is wonderful that somebody would do something for him. He's a good man."

Herkimer Fire Chief John Spanfelner said the pumper was delivered on April 27. He said it has since had radios and other equipment installed before it was put into service Wednesday evening.

Porter said the truck was about $258,000 from Deep South Fire Trucks in Seminary, Mississippi. The fire department has received funding from levies and had set aside money to put toward a truck.

"The old truck still had low mileage and the pump was sound," said assistant Fire Chief Dale Vandevander. "It will be refurbished and make some small department a good truck."

Things like breaks not working properly, gangues resetting on a fire engine causing it to shut down, and water level indicators not accurately reflecting how much is in the tank. Almost half of the work took at least three months to fix. Some took up to a year.

Crews said the department has hired its own mechanic to catch up on repairs.