First responders from several nearby communities -- like Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, and Brookline -- went to the demonstration and spoke with the equipment vendor, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Dennis Costin, the chief of the Boston fire department's special operations unit, said.

Representatives from Thermo Fisher Scientific were on hand to answer questions from the officials, Costin said.

The equipment addresses radiation detection, Costin said, and the event didn't include other technology that helps identify bombs or other dangerous items.

"The biggest concern with radiation is you can't see it, so if the bad guys" mix it with something like an ordinary explosive, Costin said, it augments the danger posed to citizens and is hard to detect without equipment.

The equipment featured at the event included items the Boston fire department already has, like "PRDs," or personal radiation detectors. The firefighters on Costin's special operations unit wear the detectors on their hips at all times. The devices let the firefighter know when there's noticeable radiation present.

"In any city, you're always going to get a certain amount of hits [of radiation]," Costin said. "So it's about learning what's natural, or what's already there, and what shouldn't be there."

There were also backpacks that the department uses to scan venues before large events.

Costin said the unit would use the backpacks a few days before an event like the Esplanade fireworks, so when a firefighter reports a hit in a certain location, Costin can tell him or her it's natural and was detected before the event started.

The Palm Coast City Council approved two of the three pumper trucks last spring, for $513,356. Palm Coast Fire Chief Mike Beadle was at the manufacturer's plant in South Dakota earlier this month for a week, inspecting the two new trucks, one of which has already made it to Ocala before it enters service at the main fire station (Station 25) on Belle Terre Parkway near Town Center. The other truck will enter service at the Palm Harbor fire station, and the third will be stationed at Indian Trails (Station 23). "We're very happy with the two trucks we just went up and saw," Beadle said, "We should have them in the station within three to four weeks."

The council knew last spring that it would be approving the purchase of a third truck about this time. It all but did so at a workshop this morning. It'll formalize the purchase at a meeting next week. The price is a bit steeper: $259,678. But it's well below the cost of custom-made trucks, which would have cost $424,000 to $472,000. The reason for the difference: The commercial trucks don't last as long as custom-made trucks. But for budgetary reason, they're what the city could buy and keep its fleet at a full complement of front-line trucks and back-up trucks, without going short on either for a period of years. (Buying used equipment was an option, but the city ruled it out, not wanting to inherit another department's potential mechanical problems.)

The cost is not expected to be an added burden on the city budget, which for years has included a fire-truck replacement fund that gets an allotted sum of money each year. The city has had such a fund since 2005, Palm Coast Finance Director Chris Quinn said, with $423,803 going into that fund in the coming fiscal year. The annual amount is calibrated to the city’s needs.

Beadle is intent on maintaining front-line and back-up engines, or "apparatus," at each of the city's five fire station. Front-line trucks operate on a day to day basis. Back-up trucks operate as replacement when front-line trucks need to be serviced, or as complements when front-line trucks are on calls and need additional back-up, with volunteers manning the back-up trucks. (See a more detailed outline of the city's fire fleet and history here, or below.)

When the city incorporated in 1999 it had no back-up trucks. It bought used fire trucks to fill that role. They actually lasted longer than expected. But today two of those trucks are "mechanically unfit," in the department's terms, with 29 and 39 years of service, a third has 31 years of service, and will be the third replacement.

Typically a front-line truck should last 20 years, with routine maintenance. But not in Palm Coast. "We have found out that our trucks last 12 to 15 years, and that's hard years, we ran over 8,000 calls this year," Beadle said. When they reach the 12 to 15 year mark, the department turns them into back-up units, with hopes that the truck will last an additional 10 years in that role.

Although long retired, the truck is still the pride of the fire department and is seen throughout the year at special occasions such as the city's annual Main Street Christmas Parade, Breakfast with Santa fundraiser, fire open houses and neighborhood events.

But time has taken its toll and the truck is badly in need of mechanical and body repairs.

"It's really dinged up," said Kathleen Thompson, a board member of the Grapevine Citizens' Fire Academy Alumni.

The association has been raising funds the past several years to give the truck a facelift, including a new engine.

Their most recent effort is a fundraising dinner to Save the '28, with a goal of $10,000.

Two million dollar-plus vehicles have been bought in recent years: a 2016 Pierce Rescue Engine was introduced at Fire Station 4 in August and a 2013 Pierce Aerial Platform was unveiled at Fire Station 1 in January 2014.

When the 1928 Model A Ford was purchased, the only fire station was downtown. The town probably had about 35 volunteer firefighters then.

Now there are five stations and 110 fire and administrative personnel, according to Deputy Fire Chief Mark Ashmead.

The 1928 truck was retired in the 1950s and began service as a historical piece of fire equipment. The truck was restored in 1977 by the Grapevine High School automotive and body department.