Schmaltz said the $493,000 truck has special equipment and will respond as a rescue vehicle but also carries water and pump for fires. It is the first of two trucks being added to the fire department fleet. A truck with a 100-foot ladder is being outfitted and firefighters are beginning to train on it before it is placed at Station 6 on Capital Avenue Southwest in May.

The new Rescue 3 truck has only two inches of clearance to enter the old station, the chief said.

The new engine has features typical of what you might see on a wild land fire engine which is going to be extremely helpful this fire season.

"It's replacing an engine that didn't have foam capabilities - foam mixed with water helps keep the fuels from getting the oxygen it needs to burn and secondly this vehicle has the ability to pump and roll which means it can actually move with a firefighter operating a line off the bumper tray," Lieberman tells us. 

And most importantly for the firefighters themselves, the new truck has a new design that will help prevent injuries while they're wearing nearly 100 pounds of equipment.

"Everyone is OK, he was stuck in the vehicle for a while until they got the power shut down. All he lost was his pride," Fire chief Mike Chervenko said.

The purchase may be good for the Sparta Fire Department in the short term as the truck would replace the department's aging aerial truck. But long term, the purchase may have political ramifications. 

The 4-3 split vote on the proposal to purchase the 2014 aerial truck was another indication of the growing rift between the township and village. All four township members voted to approve the purchase while the three village representatives voted against it.

The township can now move to finance the two-year-old reconditioned truck on its own if township officials choose.