(Watertown) The Watertown fire chief outlined their current apparatus status during a recent appearance on Community Comment.
“So, our equipment is all in really good shape,” says Watertown Fire Chief Tanya Reynen. “We’re lucky and grateful to have ambulances that are in good working order and our engine is pretty good. We are looking at getting a new ladder truck in the next couple years.”
Reynen says that because of the coronavirus pandemic, there is a two-to-four-year delay on delivery. The goal for the department is to get the truck ordered in the next few months with the expected arrival around 2027 or 2028. She adds that a capital replacement plan is important for the department.
“So, we like to have a first-out ambulance and a first-out fire engine,” Reynen says. “They’re only a first-out for, you know, half of their lifespan and then they go to reserve and that’s because if something happens, we have an engine in place. The thing that’s really special is that with a ladder [truck] we don’t have another one sitting around.”
The fire chief says there is a new ambulance on its way, and they are already having preliminary discussions about a new engine aside from the new ladder truck.
