Fire trucks are really expensive these days — a quarter-million dollars to start — but there’s an exception. The town of Canterbury is auctioning off a 1996 HME Engine truck, and the winning bid is likely to be a lot less.
“It served us well, but it is starting to age, and we just have the need for an updated truck,” said Lt. Herb Batchelder. Also, he noted, “We don’t have the space to keep it.”
The 1996 truck has four-wheel drive that still pumps well: “It’s good for going into the woods,” he said.
The town’s fire department has just installed a new E-One rescue pumper, which has more room for rescue equipment as varied as ropes and inflatables.
It’s common for fire departments to sell old equipment to other departments, volunteer groups, construction firms or even private individuals, but holding a public online auction is not the norm.
The auction is at the side municibid.com through Thursday, October 15.
The money will be put into the town’s general fund for use as needed.
The cost of fire trucks and other apparatuses has soared in the past few years, doubling or more over that period, partly because of inflation and tariffs but also because the industry has consolidated as private equity has bought up independent firms.
Three companies — REV Group, Oshkosh and Rosenbauer — control more than 70% of U.S. production. Also, as a result, wait times for equipment have increased. It’s common for it to take four years for a truck to be delivered after an order is placed.
