With the new purchase, the department will have four engines and a ladder truck at its disposal, he added. The old truck will join a 1990 engine that has been kept as a reserve. 

Before city council's decision over the summer, the last time a new engine was purchased for the fire department was in 2009. 

Deem said having more equipment at their disposal is critical as the department, which has three stations, does 21 runs on average each day.  

Without the referendum money, Chief Carlson and the rest of the New Milford Fire Protection District had to get financially creative, such as purchasing a used engine/ladder truck from a department in Clearwater, Florida.

"This rig replaced our squad. It's going to be a front-line engine. Our current engine is going to then become a resuce engine. That will go out on auto accidents, car fires, that sort of thing. We're gonna try and get a little more out of that. That's a 1999 [model], so we're gonna try to stretch that out another five to ten years."