Emerson Ave fire (1).JPG

Syracuse Fire Department Truck 3

(Jacob Pucci | jpucci@syracuse.com)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Syracuse Fire Department will get an upgrade to its fleet next year.

The Common Council today approved $2 million for a pair of new Sutphen Aerial Tower trucks.

At a study session last week Syracuse Fire chief Paul Linnertz said several trucks are approaching the end of their useful lifetime, which is 15 years. According to industry standards, a truck should be used as a "first-line" truck for 10 years, and as a reserve truck for another five, Linnertz said.

Linnertz said the cost of the trucks is a bargain. The last truck the city purchased cost $1.4 million. The department is saving money by reusing viable parts on old trucks being decommissioned. Those parts are sent to the manufacturer, which will reuse them on the new trucks.

"We can reuse some components and that's what we're planning on doing," he said. "We're going to ship them to the manufacturer and they're going to put them on the new vehicle. They typically go to scrap and the last truck we sent to scrap we got $6,000 for."

Once the spending is approved, it will take a year for the manufacturer to build the trucks.

Going forward, Linnertz said he would like to buy one new truck every other year in order to keep the fleet in good standing and regulate the cost. The fire department currently has a top-tier rating, which means insurance savings for commercial property owners.

The department currently has 11 stations with nine engine companies. Linnertz said there is a truck within two-and-a-half miles of any point in the city.