The April 2015 town meeting approved $1.2 million for the engines and all the new apparatus. With the oldest engines now retired, Hingham’s fire fleet now includes 2002 and 2006 reserve engines and one "quint" unit, so named for its five capabilities – aerial and ground ladders, a water tank, pump and hose. The town also has two ambulances.

The new truck replaces a vehicle that was 20 years old, and it was time for an update, said Elmira Heights Fire Chief Michael Cadek.

The truck will be used primarily for emergency medical calls and offers more features than the old truck, which will be sold to another fire department, Cadek said.

"Four years ago we started our can and bottle drive. We've probably collected about a million bottles and cans, and that gave us enough to replace our EMS truck," Cadek said. "The price (of the new truck) was $65,000 and it was funded entirely by the bottle and can drive. It gives us more tools, so we don't have to rely on other departments as much."

The city purchased the new truck in order to put an older truck in reserve.

About 10 years ago the city put a reserve truck out of service and, until now, the truck was not replaced. With the addition of Champion to the fleet, the fire department can again have a truck in reserve. Reserve trucks are used as backup if an in-service truck undergoes maintenance. Champion will be housed at Fire Station Two, located at 15th Avenue and Industrial Road.

The cost of the new truck was right at $500,000 and the city paid for it up front so there would be no interest owed on the purchase. The truck was funded by a bond. The firetruck was purchased through Conrad, a dealer for Pierce Fire Apparatus. The city elected Pierce as the builder through a bidding process.

At $500,000, the firetruck has some new bells and whistles.

The new truck has a 15-foot light tower to light up fire scenes at night. The truck also has the ability to carry foam. While foam has been an alternate extinguishing agent for about 20 years, none of the older Emporia trucks have the capacity to hold foam. The truck can hold two different types of foam, class A and B, which are used for different classifications of fires.