Kasey Brown, president of the fire department's executive board, said obtaining the truck was the culmination of two years of effort by the board and the apparatus committee assigned to complete the task. He previously told The News Courier the new truck cost about $500,000.

A small car hit his 2010 Ford Expedition from behind, sending his eyeglasses flying into the windshield and his head back against the headrest. He looked up and a saw the car veer off, turn a corner and stop nearby.

The new compressor is almost double the power of the older, less efficient unit it will replace, which will enable Liberty Township VFD to maximize the capacity of its self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) bottles. With additional oxygen in the SCBA bottles, firefighters can withstand hostile environments longer, giving them more time to bring a fire under control or search for victims.

Though the Selectboard originally anticipated repairs to cost between $3,500 and $4,000, the cost totaled about $7,500, Neipp said.

Repairs to Engine 1 took longer than expected, with Neipp originally anticipating the truck could be back in service by the end of January.