HERMON, Maine — The Hermon Fire Department is one of many departments across the country dealing with back orders on equipment due to the pandemic.
Hermon ordered a new fire engine about 14 months ago to replace a nearly 30-year-old engine.
The new engine was supposed to arrive this past spring, but Hermon has now been told it will arrive early next year.
Due to catastrophic frame failure, the old engine recently failed inspection and was pulled out of service.
“[With] the harsh road conditions in Maine, rust is a primary enemy of all of our [apparatuses]. This was a commercial vehicle that we had purchased used and it was ready to be replaced, it just decided to give up ... a little sooner than we had hoped,” Fire Chief Frank Roma said.
This left the department to decide between leasing an engine for $5,000 to $7,000 a month, or purchasing a used engine.
“We were in a difficult situation. The best option is to make a small investment in a piece of equipment that we own, that when at the end of the day we no longer need it, we can turn around and sell and not be completely out any of the money that we have invested in filling the gap,” Roma said.
The used engine Hermon Fire Department purchased cost about $38,000.
The new engine that is set to arrive next year, cost Hermon about $550,000.
Once the new engine arrives in 2023, it will act as a primary response engine, moving the current one into the back-up option. This will leave the 30-year-old engine, which currently is not fit for the road, to be sold off.
“The way we operate here in Hermon, we have a primary response engine, a secondary response engine, and then a tanker. With this engine down, we have no backup should we have a mechanical issue with our primary engine," Roma said. "We are very fortunate that we have a great set of mutual aid partners that surround the community. We certainly assist them and they assist us, so in the interim period there has been no drop in our coverage and we have been fortunate that our primary engine has stayed mechanically viable.”
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The old engine will go out for surplus and offered-up for bids. Chief Roma said it could be used agriculturally as a pump for a pond or as an irrigation system.
Chief Roma would like to remind the city of Hermon that they always enjoy visitors and once the new-used engine arrives, as well as the new engine in 2023, everyone is welcome to come check it out.