JAY — Selectpersons will consider three options to repair frame corrosion on the 2006 Engine 3 firetruck when they meet at 6 p.m. Monday at the Town Office.
Fire Rescue Chief Mike Booker gave the board a heads-up on the problem last fall.
The frame has “severe corrosion,” according to Booker and Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere.
Booker contacted Greenwood Emergency Vehicles in Massachusetts, a dealer of E-One firetrucks, to see if the company would cover the cost of repairing the frame.
“However, the frame corrosion is beyond the warranty,” LaFreniere said.
Some warranty work for corrosion was done on the truck previously but more recently the Fire Rescue Department had to replace the fuel tank straps, brake lines, air dryer straps, exhaust, wiring, the primer and more.
There is no paint left on the frame and there is severe rust and corrosion, she said.
Department officers have reviewed three options and agree that the frame should be replaced because it is a major structural component and could become a huge safety concern if not fixed properly, Booker told selectpersons.
The truck manufacturer, E-One, would give the department frame replacement rails for free but the town would be responsible for the cost to remove the current frame and install a new one, he said. The cost is estimated at between $25,000 to $35,000 and would have to be done at its shop in North Attleboro, Mass.
That option is unanimously recommended by the officers in the department.
Another option is for North East Fire Apparatus in Auburn to remove the tank and the back half of the truck. It would use a needle-gun scrape-chisel on the frame and use an automotive type paint system on it, Booker wrote. The cost is between $12,000 and $15,000.
The third option from Cliff’s Heavy Truck Repair in Windsor is to put the truck up on a lift and remove brackets, hoses and other parts to get at the frame. The frame would be sandblasted as much as possible. An epoxy-type paint system would be used to paint whatever can be reached. The cost is $15,000.
The board must approve using the department’s Capital Account, which has about $365,000, to pay for the repairs.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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