FREDONIA – The Fredonia Fire Department purchased a new ladder truck for nearly $2 million in May. However, according to Chief Josh Myers, the current ladder vehicle is in such poor condition, the department needs a temporary replacement until the new one comes in.

The village Board of Trustees approved Myers’ attempt to buy a vehicle.

The fire chief told them the current ladder truck recently failed a critical test.

“The ladder truck is currently out of service, it cannot be in service with this type of failure,” he said. “Unfortunately for us it’s a pretty heavy repair to even look at what’s going on with it – they’d have to remove the whole aerial device from the turntable and gearbox and all that. We’re looking at about $50,000 just to diagnose what’s wrong with it, and who knows from there.”

Myers continued, “We were fortunate enough to find that Hamburg’s Scranton Volunteer Fire Department just took delivery of a new ladder truck, so they are selling their old truck for a remarkable price. It’s in really, really good shape…we went and drove it, played with it, flew it around. It’d be a good investment for us to get by for the next three years.”

The price: Just $20,000.

As for the new truck, “They say 24 months, I call B.S. I think more like three years, the way supply chains are going. The ambulance we ordered was promised to us nine months ago, and we’re still waiting.”

Myers said the department would be able to sell parts off the current truck, such as the motor. He thinks they can recoup the funds from the purchase of the Scranton V truck with sale of the old one.