DIXFIELD – The issue of how to get the town’s 44-foot-long ladder truck to fit into its 44-foot-long fire station bay might soon be a thing of the past.

Rather than build a bigger bay, selectmen at Monday night’s meeting gave Chief Scott Blaisdell permission to look into buying a smaller, used ladder truck.

That truck, a 1985 Seagrave, is one of four being sold by the Lisbon Fire Department, said Lisbon Chief Sean Galipeau.

Blaisdell said $45,000 is available in the town’s reserve equipment account to purchase a firetruck, but an additional $5,000 would be needed to meet the sale price of $50,000.

Galipeau said the Seagrave, which has 14,000 miles on it and 922 actual hours of service, is 36 feet, 7 inches long and 9 feet, 9 inches tall. Its 100-foot aerial ladder is rear mounted.

Blaisdell said the length was perfect but he would like Lisbon firefighters to bring the truck to Dixfield so he could better judge its height in the station bay.

Galipeau said Dixfield’s assistant chief came down last week and examined the truck.

Lisbon is selling the 1985 ladder truck because the department did a 4-for-2 deal recently, taking advantage of low bond rates to buy two new firetrucks to replace four trucks.

One of the trucks is a ladder/pumper unit. That meant the department no longer needed the Seagrave.

“We get between 250 to 300 calls a year and that ladder truck goes out on just about every call,” Galipeau said Wednesday.

But whereas Lisbon has a lot of commercial properties and Dixfield is more residential, Galipeau said the Seagrave would be a better fit for Dixfield, which might use the truck about 10 times a year.

Blaisdell said responding to fires at tall houses in town and chimney fires were reasons why the department needs a ladder truck.

“It’s more of a safety issue as far as getting guys up on the roof of a building and it’s a lot safer for fighting chimney fires,” he said.

Blaisdell told selectmen Monday that Dixfield’s 1956 ladder truck wasn’t slated to be replaced until four years from now.

But financially, it made better sense to look into buying a used ladder truck now rather than wait four years only to learn that it could be more expensive.

“This is a good opportunity to get one,” Town Manager Nanci Allard said Wednesday.

Not only is Dixfield’s ladder truck too long for its bay, but Blaisdell said it’s “starting to become a maintenance nightmare.”

Dixfield purchased the aging truck in 1992. It is 43 feet, 10 inches long. The tip of its ladder touches the station bay’s back wall while the front bumper touches the the bay door.

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