Ansonia Aldermen Approve Fire Engine Sale

ANSONIA – Members of the Ansonia Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Aug. 12 to give the fire department permission to sell a fire truck.

The board voted to approve a request from Ansonia Fire Chief Jay Fainer to go out to market to sell Engine 4, which Fainer said is currently mostly unused.

Fainer said in the meeting that the sale is necessary in order to purchase a utility terrain vehicle (UTV) and up to three new vehicles for department chiefs.

The department listed the truck for sale for $185,000 after the meeting.

Fainer said the lack of an Ansonia-owned UTV became a problem during a recent fuel spill at Ansonia High School. He said a UTV would also help the department respond to incidents at locations like the Riverwalk and Coe Pond.

“We desperately needed it up at the high school. We had to call in multiple mutual aid towns to help with that,” Fainer said.

Fainer said the department currently has two vehicles for its five chiefs. He said that the department currently spends up to $18,000 every other year to install fire equipment in the personal vehicles of chiefs who don’t have a department-owned vehicle.

“(Assistant Chief) Matt Pitney just came in and we’re putting close to $18,000 worth of lights, sirens, radios and computers in his personal truck,” Fainer said. “And now you have to go around and tell your insurance company, ‘Hey, by the way, I’m running priority one lights and sirens to calls in my (personal vehicle).’”

Having department-owned vehicles would eliminate those costs, Fainer said. He said Ansonia is the only Valley town which doesn’t have all of its chiefs in department-owned vehicles.

Fainer said his $185,000 sale estimate came from conversations he’s had with representatives at Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus, a company based in Alabama which specializes in selling used fire equipment.

Deputy Chief Anthony DeLucia, who was also present at the meeting, said Ansonia went through the same company to sell another engine in 2017.

Alderman Bob Knott asked what the department’s backup plan would be, if the department received less money from the sale than expected. Fainer said getting a UTV is first priority, followed by as many chiefs’ vehicles as the department can afford afterward.

In an earlier press release announcing the department’s intention to sell, Fainer also wrote that another engine, Engine 1, will be placed in reserve next year, citing declining volunteer numbers.

Fainer said that taking the two trucks out of commission will help with maintenance costs, even as the department expects to receive three new engines in the next two years.

The three new trucks – a rescue truck, a ladder truck, and an engine truck totaling $5.2 million – were approved by voters and authorized by the Aldermen in 2023. DeLucia said the department expects to receive all three trucks by the end of 2027.

The board voted 11 – 0 to approve the request. Aldermen Joseph Jeanette, Nathaniel Hardy, and Mario Durante were absent from the meeting.