The city of Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, has acquired a new fire apparatus: a 2004 Rosenbauer Spartan complete with a 60-foot extension ladder and remote controlled nozzle.

“The citizens of Mt. Pleasant should be glad we got this truck,” Fire Chief Tim Smith told The Daily Herald. “This is something we thought we would never see, but now that it has happened, we guarantee the City of Mt. Pleasant will make good use of it.”

Smith said the new truck and its 60-foot extendable ladder will give firefighters much needed access during emergency situations at the city’s public schools and other structures.

With the new nozzle, which can be used to direct water remotely using a small wireless controller, the new truck allows firefighters to work in a more secure environment for safer rescues and water drops, the report said.

The truck, which is usually priced at more than $500,000, was used by a fire department in Ohio until it was damaged in a collision. The refurbished truck was purchased from Lawrenceburg’s M3 Fire Apparatus for $139,000, according to the report.

Residents of Wellesley Island in New York state voted to approve a $1.3M bond to build a new firehouse after the local station was destroyed by fire.

"We need a new station to be able to hold the engine's tankers and pumpers and the ambulance," Wellesley Island resident Frank Beadel said.

The fire department has raised the rest of the funds to build the $1.6 million facility on Cross Island Road. Right now the fire department's equipment is scattered throughout various locations, according to a report, but the new building would put fire trucks and the island's ambulance all under one roof.

The new truck sports, among many improvements, more hose connections, better pumping equipment, and the ability to carry more equipment than the vehicle it will replace.

“Technology keeps getting better and better and better,” Fire Chief Peter Burke said, “so the technology in this truck is worlds above what we had before.”

Burke said that the new vehicle cost $550,000, but is expected to last 25 to 30 years, as its predecessor did. The department will keep the previous truck – a 1980 model – in reserve.

The truck should be ready to start heading out on calls in about two weeks, after firefighters train on it.