New Providence Council Authorizes Bidding For New Fire Truck

Borough Council authorized bidding for a new fire engine at a meeting last Monday.

In late May, , which included $891,000 for a new fire truck for the .

Money for the truck is already in the capital budget, said Borough Administrator Doug Marvin. But the fire department doesn't expect to receive the new truck for nine months to a year.

“This is something that has been a long time going. As the community and certainly the Council understands, it’s important to keep our fire safety equipment and the ability of our firefighters to respond up-to-date. It’s important to keep fire trucks that are able to respond, that are in good condition, that are not out-of-date in terms of the number of years they’ve been in service,” Mayor J. Brooke Hern said at the meeting. “The fire department has been asking for quite some time for us to consider this, we have talked about it and it’s the recommendation of the Public Safety Committee that this be placed on the agenda tonight.”

With funding from the New Providence Lions Club, , one last month and one last year. The equipment allows firefighters to hear radio transmissions while traveling to a call.

In July, Fire Chief Ralph Parlapiano told Patch that the new truck will be outfitted with the same radio headset equipment.