The devil is in the details for the town of Pictou and its fire department. At Monday’s regular
monthly meeting, Fire Chief Paul Janes talked to councilors about replacing one of the fire department’s aging trucks.
There were three models that met all the requirements of the tender, but the model that the chief recommended buying has a much larger internal water tank – 1400 gallons vs 500 gallons for the other trucks. As Janes pointed out, the larger tank means the truck is better able to attack fires right away, especially in a couple of areas of town where hydrant access is more limited. However, the price tag is more than 200 thousand dollars above the $600,000 that council has budgeted.
After much discussion, council voted to table a decision on the fire truck purchase until they next meet on February 7th – between now and then, council and the fire department will look at whether other sources of revenue could be used to cover the higher price without compromising other town or fire operations.