By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

WILTON – Representatives from two fire organizations Tuesday night backed Fire Chief Sonny Dunham’s contentions that the town’s firefighting abilities are worrisome, and one engine is probably beyond repair. The town is down to one working pumper truck.

“One single engine is a significant risk to the town’s fire suppression,” Neil Courtney of Maine Fire Training and Education told selectmen.

Dunham said he cannot begin to attack a fire without backup water supply, and with only one truck he has to wait for another town to respond.

“I can’t even go in and rescue people,” he said, explaining he would have “to stand there and wait.”

Dunham asked selectmen to consider replacing Engine 5, which “failed a pump test miserably,” according to EVA Fire Apparatus representative Ed Pollard. Replacing it could cost up to $250,000, and selectmen are reluctant to ask taxpayers for the money before a five-town service-sharing study is complete. Results from the study are not expected for three months.

Courtney is conducting “a pretty exhaustive study” that includes the towns of Wilton, Farmington, Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls to see how the towns can collaborate on fire suppression and save taxpayers money. The $10,000 study is being paid for with a state grant.

All the towns involved “have to be on an even keel,” he said. It will take collaboration and is about what each town can bring to the table, he added.

With only one operating engine, down from three in 1997, “you have digressed,” he told them.

A study conducted in 1997 by Insurance Services Office Inc., indicated the department’s capacity to respond to fires at that time was about the mean for the state. However, it was not clear whether the study directly affects homeowner insurance rates.

“I make good money fixing firetrucks, but this truck is beyond repair,” Pollard said of Engine 5. “We’d love to rebuild the whole truck for you, but I don’t see it as a good use of tax dollars,” he later added.

In addition to the pump working below half-capacity – a rarity, according to Pollard – there are issues with the 1983 truck’s exhaust system and springs, and the tank may not hold up for much longer. Also, parts for the pump may be impossible to find because the company that made them no longer manufactures fire apparatus, he said.

Selectmen did not take any action on the issue deciding, for the time being, to wait for the study results.

But Dunham said he thought that he personally had to present selectmen with a letter in which he stated his concerns.

“I would like to respectively remind you that on this status (waiting for the study results) 50 percent of Wilton’s ready pumping capacity is missing,” he wrote. “The major problem the town of Wilton is facing is lack of firefighting capabilities, safety and liability.”