With the daily wear and tear and harsh weather conditions in Erie, Chief Guy Santone says it's time to update the fleet.  "It's not like driving a car, when these trucks go out they are pushed... they are worked hard,"  Santone expressed the need for a new truck at the department's budget session with City Council last week.    

 A new rescue pumper or tower truck can cost anywhere from $750,000 to $1.2 million completely outfitted. "We would like to get on a program where we get a new fire truck every four years.  They were receptive to that and to what I had to say," Santone tells us.   

But the trucks are not only getting older, they are getting more expensive to fix.  Mechanic Judd Spaulding says, "they have 50 to 60 thousand miles on them but they are city miles, full throttle to complete stop, it's not highway easy miles on these trucks at all".

Shift Capt. Keith Orndorff, who served on the fire department's truck committee, said the panel's lengthy research into options for a new truck led them to recommend getting one that is customized to meet the specific needs of the department. He said they decided to go with a combination rescue pumper that will enable the department to put one vehicle on the road during emergency responses instead of two.  

"Now we have a fire engine and a rescue vehicle in the same truck," Orndorff said. The truck committee members also included Assistant Chief Sean Junge and engineers Kenny Clatfelter, Jeff Hilligoss and Mike Ueleke.