JAY – Fire Rescue Capt. Gerry Pineau tossed his captain’s badge across a selectmen’s table Monday night.

Emotions were raw Monday when firefighters and family members told selectmen about the equipment breakdowns they had during a fire early Oct. 31.

Pineau said he wasn’t going to lead his firefighters with inadequate equipment.

“I’m not quitting the Fire Department,” Pineau, a 14-year department member, said, after his badge slid across a table. “I’m just not going to be a captain … I’ve just turned into the guy who shows up when he has time.”

The descriptions of the problems brought tears to the eyes of some of the women and even a firefighter or two.

Three firefighters were stuck inside an Elm Street house while fighting a fire and had no water when a fire engine lost pressure. They eventually evacuated the building until another truck arrived. Pineau was one of the three firefighters stuck in the building.

The 16-year-old truck had lost an alternator and a couple days later its air breaks, Fire Rescue Chief Brian Shink said.

The point is, Shink said, is these trucks are used and they’re used hard.

“These trucks are being used to long,” Shink said.

Firefighters proposed buying a new truck, solicited bids and chose the one they felt would be best meet the needs of the town over 30 years. But voters rejected the proposal. The department has $212,000 in a reserve account and needs $176,000 to $177,000 to buy the truck outright, with costs rising each year.

Selectmen had heard from firefighters and their families about truck failure but offered no plan to buy a firetruck now.

Selectmen said they have utmost respect for the firefighters and want them to be safe.

But voters have rejected buying a new truck two years in a row and selectmen need voters’ approval to spend money.

Several firefighters said their department was being treated differently than other departments that include big-ticket purchases such as a new highway truck or new recycling truck in the budget warrant and not in a separate warrant article like the fire truck.

They also questioned the need for an audit of the department to determine the needs.

Pineau said selectmen didn’t trust firefighters’ knowledge.

Selectmen’s Chairman Bill Harlow said it wasn’t that. They wanted the information to present to voters to show them the needs of the department in order to sell the truck to voters, Harlow said.

He also noted that selectmen encouraged Shink to increase annual reserve amounts.

Harlow said selectmen pulled a proposed new town office off the warrant last year and left the truck on.

Shink said something had to be done now, not in six months.

“We are not blind to the fact that we have an exceptional fire department,” Harlow said.

Even with the audit, Shink said, voters could still turn the firetruck down.

Shink said selectmen have the authority to call a town meeting to transfer money to buy a new truck just like they did when the town garage was expanded.

“We’re bringing you a problem of safety,” Pineau said.