Lawrence Township volunteer firefighters will receive an additional fire truck this month, and another in several years, courtesy of local voters.

Thursday, March 23, 2000

Lawrence Township volunteer firefighters will receive an additional fire truck this month, and another in several years, courtesy of local voters.

The department’s first truck should arrive within two weeks and replace a 1964-model that has a bad pump, township fire chief Phil Hardy said.

Firefighters plan to house the truck, which is a used truck, at the Kitts Hill station.

"This has taken the levy receipts of about four years," Hardy said.

The department saved money from its original 1-mill levy that passed five years ago to purchase the fire truck.

This year, a renewal of that same levy appeared on the ballot March 7, which voters approved 323 to 96.

Firefighters are pleased with the election result because it means the department can start saving money for the next truck, Hardy said.

"When we get enough money from the renewal, we will buy another one," he said.

That may take another three or four years of putting aside levy dollars instead of using them to keep equipment in proper shape, but it will be worth it, Hardy said.

"The big advantage of doing it this way is you won’t go into debt."

The levy renewal is a victory by voters for voters in other ways, too, Hardy added.

"This also will allow the department to buy additional equipment," he said. "Our stuff’s all getting old and this was our only way to replace some of it."

It’s important to have working equipment that passes fire standards and allows the department to maintain its insurance rating, Hardy said.

The fire department received a Class 9 fire service rating in 1973, three years after it organized.

That rating, based by the insurance industry on a department’s equipment and staffing, helps residents save on fire insurance costs, he said.

Levy monies provide that savings by keeping the fire department funded at a level that it can operate at, Hardy said.

The department has a permanent levy, but that only generates $11,000 to $12,000 a year, while equipment costs, maintenance and other expenses can soar higher, he said.

"Fire trucks and equipment are like lawnmowers and automobiles – they wear out," he added.

When campaigning for the levy, Hardy said the department wanted to improve their fire truck fleet without hurting the taxpayers, which resulted in buying the used truck.

The department just couldn’t ask them to pay the $120,000 price of a brand new one, he said.

"The people support us real well and as a result, we’re able to have good equipment to help them when they need it."