McAdams recently sought approval for an extended reciprocal agreement that will allow the city to borrow fire trucks from neighboring Sterling Heights, as needed.

The council unanimously approved that request in late August, and last week McAdams said the process of replacing fire trucks is now ongoing. He said the city will likely take delivery of its first new truck -- a 75-foot ladder apparatus that will also serve as a fire engine -- by mid-November. The city is currently finalizing a bid request for two more fire engines and a 100-foot ladder, with an estimated arrival sometime next spring.

"We've got a two-headed dragon here. We're trying to replace what we lost in the inspections and also better cover our city," McAdams said. Failed inspections, including a metallurgical test, took two frontline trucks -- an engine and one of the city's two 75-foot aerial trucks -- and two reserve engines out of service earlier this year. The city has since relied on its four newest trucks, purchased in 2012, and an aging collection of reserve vehicles, pushed into service in a frontline capacity. The stopgap, however, left the city without an actual reserve to cover for routine vehicle maintenance and emergency repairs.

McAdams said responding to calls for service through deep water during the August 2014 flooding likely decreased the operational life of the vehicles that failed inspections. Metallurgical testing reportedly detected rust damage to the frame rails.

Even so, with a normal life expectancy for fire vehicles ranging from 15 to 20 years, the trucks -- all built in the early to mid-2000s -- were likely nearing the end of their days in service anyway.

In the interim, the city has borrowed trucks from Sterling Heights as needed. McAdams said the department is also exploring options for a longer-term arrangement with a yet-to-be-disclosed municipality.