ME Fire Department Ditches Apparatus amid Repair Bills

KENNEBUNK, ME—Engine 1 is off the road.

At the request of Fire Chief Jeffrey Rowe, the Kennebunk Select Board voted unanimously last week to dispose of the town's 2002 engine and to authorize its sale. The engine's multiplex system has been malfunctioning in recent months, leading to all sorts of problems, Rowe told the board.

"It's the brain of the operation," Rowe said of the system. "It controls all of the lights. It controls the pump. It controls the engine starting and stopping and things like that."

The 38-foot truck also has gathered a lot of rust on its frame, Rowe added. Rowe passed around to the selectpersons a plastic bag filled with the rust that had accumulated on the vehicle. He said the rust issues do not have anything to do with the engine's manufacturer.

"I think it's more to do with what we're putting on the roads, and things like that, as we do our day-to-day life," Rowe said.

The engine has responded to "about 90% of the department's calls in town and probably 99% of the calls on the turnpike, where they put down quite a bit of product to make driving safe," Rowe said.

"However, that product does attack the rust and stuff on the frame," he added.

Rowe said the engine has been brought to Northeast Emergency Apparatus in Auburn three times to be evaluated for problems with its multiplex system.

"In these three visits, we've spent almost $6,500, and the truck is out of service at this point," Rowe said.

A mechanic at the Auburn shop said the fire and rescue department could put $15,000 worth of work into the multiplex system and "it wouldn't guarantee it would work for a week after the truck came back," Rowe said.

Rowe called the news "disheartening" because the engine "is a vital part of our department." He said the engine, the second newest in the department's fleet, had not been scheduled to be replaced for another six or seven years.

Rowe said he realized it was time to decide what to do with the engine when he determined that the department had spent $50,000 on its maintenance during his years as chief.

The town purchased the truck for $460,000 back in 2002. Total bills on it since have totaled $135,000 — a "red flag," Rowe said, because only 31% of that amount was for usual annual maintenance.

The elimination of the truck leaves three engines in the department's fleet. Rowe offered reassurance that the department will be fine with just the remaining three, referring to insurance recommendations calling for the town to have a water-pumping capacity of 3,500 gallons a minute, through the combined efforts of all the fire department's vehicles.

"We have that pump capacity exceeded (by) 2,000 gallons, with the three remaining engines," Rowe said.

Rowe also assured the select board that the town would "stay safe in our insurance ratings" with just the three engines. And the town has mutual-aid agreements with fire departments in neighboring communities, Rowe added.

Rowe said one consequence of eliminating Engine 1 from the fleet was the loss of the truck's "good-size compartment space" for firefighting apparatus. Rowe said that the department had been storing and transporting its equipment in a pickup truck and trailer, with some pieces even resting on the floor of the central station on Summer Street.

Rowe proposed a solution for such storage needs: he said his department looked around and located a used 1994 Mack Rescue truck in Londonderry, New Hampshire, with 8,600 miles on it and an asking price of $39,995. Rowe said the owner, a collector, was open to negotiating that amount. The vehicle is 26 feet long and has sliding doors along both sides, much like the "Coke trucks" used to transport soda, Rowe added.

Rowe said such vehicles are good for carrying firefighting apparatus and other equipment because they "provide access on each side of the vehicle very easily."

Before the purchase, a crew traveled to Londonderry and drove the used truck back to Kennebunk to make sure it was in good traveling shape, according to Rowe. Rowe said the town's mechanic at the public works department inspected the vehicle and produced a list of replacements and repairs that could be performed on it for roughly $4,200.

"Nothing that (the mechanic) found would raise the red flag for us," Rowe told the selectpersons.

The select board liked Rowe's solution and included an authorization for the town manager to negotiate the purchase of the Mack truck in its motion to approve the disposing of Engine 1.

Town Manager Michael Pardue reported on Wednesday that the town had purchased the vehicle for $24,000. The town paid for the vehicle with money from recent sales of surplus assets and from the fire department's funds for vehicle maintenance, supplies, and equipment.

Engine 1 may be sold in full or in parts, Rowe said earlier this week.

"We're evaluating the best options to market the sale of Engine 1," he said.

The retired fire engine is currently parked at the station in West Kennebunk.

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