Before a Canadian production company changed its name to “Unit# F96” the truck went by the name “Ladder 5” for the Lexington Fire Department.

The department sold old Ladder 5 to Ian Thompson, owner of 911 Filmcars Inc., for about $22,000 in 2009.

Based in Vancouver, Canada, 911 Filmcars Inc. is a production company that provides emergency vehicles and consultants to movie sets. As a “vehicle wrangler,” Thompson “mixes and matches” his fleet and sometimes even firefighters who help make scenes believable.

The truck replaces one that's about 22-years old. Officials say that one was starting to break down and will be put on reserve for a few years.

The new truck cost about $450,000. They'll start using it next week. It will respond to about 2,500 calls per year.

Mansfield Mayor Larry Austin said the city applied for the grant last fall and the money will go toward purchasing new equipment, including radios, beepers and leafblowers, as well as turnout equipment such as fire-resistant clothing and boots.

“This grant replaces a lot of equipment that we have that’s out of date,” Austin said. “The City Council and I met with the Fire Department about six months ago and we just asked the question, ‘What do you need?’ They said, ‘We need turnout gear, we need backpack leafblowers and we need some radios and beepers,’ so we just took the whole list and put all we could in this application.”

Austin said the city will match the $8,942 provided by the grant with another $8,942, leaving $17,884 for new equipment.