Dayton commissioners recently authorized spending $1.07 million on two top-mount pumper fire trucks, which will replace engines built in 1993 and 1994.

The engines are 1,500-gallon-per-minute class A pumps. Their tanks can hold about 750 gallons of water.

The purchase will help rotate some of the oldest fire-suppression vehicles out of the system, Payne said.

"We'll get 15 good years out of them," Payne said. "And with the newer engines, we'll have lower maintenance costs."

The fire department has eight front-line fire engines, which are used everyday, except when they require maintenance.

When those trucks are in the shop, the department has four reserve engines, which were built in 1983 but were retrofitted between 1989 to 1994, Payne said.

When the department takes ownership of the new vehicles, the engines they replace will be scrapped because of their age, Payne said.

The front-line fleet includes two engines purchased in 2013, two purchased in 2010 and two purchased in 2002.

The fire department is expected to receive the new engines in about nine months. But it expects to receive its new emergency medic unit a couple months sooner than that.

The new, $248,750 vehicle replaces a unit purchased in 1997. That vehicle will be taken out of operation. The city's seven front-line medic units make thousands of runs every year, officials said.

The average age of the units is 8.4 years old.

"We are super excited about (the new station)," said Ada Fire Department Deputy Chief Joe Allen. "We've been in that other station for about 108 years now, and we got our money out of it, but it's time to move to a new station."

Allen said one of the most important features of the new station is that it is designed to centralize the department's command structure.

"We've got all the officers right here, and it's going to be a lot easier to communicate," he said. "That's one of the things we've improved a lot is our communication across the department."

Allen cited improved training facilities and a better classroom as benefits that affect the entire department's operations.

"The new engine bays have an exhaust system that will keep diesel smoke out, so during the wintertime, we can check the trucks," he said. "In the past, if it's been below freezing we haven't been able to pull the trucks out and put them into pump (mode) because we've been afraid of having the pumps freeze up. Now we don't have to worry about it."

Allen also said the station's location will make coming and going to answer calls a lot safer and easier.

"Our line of sight pulling out of the station is a big improvement," he said, adding that reduced cross-traffic on 14th Street will make it easier for the trucks to get out.

"There is so much improvement," Allen said. "The big trucks, like Ladder 9 and Engine 10, they're going to be able to drive through the bay, so they'll pull around on 15th Street and come in that way. Only the smaller trucks are going to have to back into the bays now."

Fire chief Gregg Cleveland says it will take awhile to figure out even where to put the new station and devise a financial plan for staffing and providing equipment for it.

A new station is estimated to cost $6 million with equipment and personnel costs above that.

The city has four fire stations but none in what has the been the area of largest growth in the city and surrounding areas on the south side.

Finding a site for a new fire station will be the first step Cleveland said.

The city has budgeted $500,000 this year to buy property for a new station on the south side. It would be the first new fire station in the city since 1967.

"The new trucks are more safe, do more and are bigger. Things are simplified. A panel of electronics makes things easier and cuts down on manual operation. It's more user-friendly and cuts down on user error."

He said the five-member truck committee received extensive training through the manufacturer, Wilde Fire

Mayor Scott M. Burto noted the village had the trucks which were used as trade-ins refurbished about 10 years ago to extend their useful life and save the village money.

He said the village had originally planned to purchase one truck this year and another in two years. However, with a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in costs, it was realized that a savings of more than $30,000 would be realized if both were purchased now.

"Wilde Fire Equipment offered to further reduce the price by $25,000 a truck if we purchased both of them together," said Mr. Burto. "The final cost of the two trucks after discounts and trade-in were $700,000. The village put $100,000 cash down from the firetruck reserve fund that the board established years ago. The remaining $600,000 was financed for 15 years."