Fall River firefighters are getting some desperately needed equipment, thanks to the city council and a federal loan.
When a fire breaks out in the city, often the first truck to respond is 20 years old. The back-up is 30 years old.
That's why firefighters are thankful that that the city council approved a federal loan Tuesday night for $5 million worth of new equipment.
"We've actually bought apparatus that other communities were letting go, getting rid of," District Fire Chief James Mellen of the Fall River Fire Department said. "We've bought them at a greatly reduced rate, and put them in as a front-line apparatus."
At fire department headquarters, the back-up engine looks more like an antique, while Engine 1 has critical equipment that often breaks down -- or doesn't exist to begin with.
"It's a Godsend for our department," District Chief Ambrose Smith of the Fall River Fire Department said. "It's just like your own car. If your car gets to be 20 years old, you have a lot more breakdowns than if a car's 2 or 3 years old."