"The City of Gulf Shores Fire Department does a remarkable job providing equipment and trained personnel for airport emergency situations," Airport Manager Scott Fuller said. "However, to accommodate commercial air charter service we have had to borrow or lease a dry chemical unit to allow for this type of operation. By purchasing this unit, we eliminate an ongoing challenge in dealing with non-scheduled air charters."

City of Gulf Shores Fire Chief Hartly Brokenshaw gratefully accepted this important firefighting apparatus.

The lopsided 48-to-2 vote approved $3.8 million to buy five new trucks for the town's three volunteer firehouses.

"We're happy to get the support of the Town Council and Board of Finance," said Kevin Catalano, spokesman for the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department.

This is the first time since 2009 Monroe will get new fire trucks. The vehicles will be delivered to the fleet in 2018.

At present, there are 13 trucks among the three firehouses -- Stevenson, Stepney and Monroe. Only the Stepney firehouse will downsize by one truck after the new addition.

Monday night's vote to buy the trucks came at a time when the struggles of maintaining and repairing the town's fleet has presented challenges in recent years, Catalano said.

"It makes it difficult," he said. "We take a lot of the equipment off the main trucks and put it in the back of a pickup truck, which is not ideal."

First Selectman Steve Vavrek said it is important to make sure the town's fire department has the proper equipment to do its job.

"Public safety has to be our No.1 priority when it comes to vehicle maintenance," he said. "It's imperative we stay on top of this."

It used to be adding to the fire department's fleet was a challenge, but that has not been the case for the last two acquisitions, Monroe Volunteer Fire Department President Chris Krize said.

"The process we just went through for both '09 and '17 were very similar," Krize said. "They were both bulk purchases, so we approached it in a very similar manner."