PETERSHAM – The Fire Department will soon have a new vehicle on the road.

According to Petersham Fire Chief Bob Legare, a refurbished tanker truck with a price tag of approximately $40,000 has been purchased from Bulldog Fire Apparatus of Hopkinton. The truck was delivered on Monday. Paid for through an allocation by the Selectboard, the vehicle will replace one that has been steadily deteriorating in recent years. The engine in that truck dates back to 2010, while the chassis is 23 years old.

“It had been acting up,” said Legare. “We had been having pump problems. Then we had some electrical gremlins…things would just automatically go off on your way to a call. So we sent it in for service to get a pump test and have them go through the truck to see what was wrong with it. (Bulldog) came back a week or two later and said this truck isn’t worth the money to do everything.”

The estimate for repairing the frame alone ran from $60,000 to $80,000, Legare said. To fix everything on the truck would cost $150,000-$200,000.

Defects found in the inspection included water leaks, defective gauges, intermittent headlights and dash lights, malfunctioning air horns, a broken power switch, and a suspected leak in the water tank. Those problems were in addition to rust on the frame. A host of other mechanical issues were also found.

Legare took over as chief in July and the issue with the issues with this truck came as a surprise.

“I don’t think anybody really knew,” Legare said. “It’s been getting inspection stickers. We knew there was rust problems on it but nobody ever realized just how bad those problems were. You’ve got a thousand gallons (of water) riding on that axle, so you can’t take any chances.”

The truck the town has purchased, said the chief, is actually a few months older than the one being replaced. However, Legare, Deputy Chief Shawn Legare and Royalston Fire Chief Eric Jack looked the other vehicle over and found no mechanical problems.

“It’s a great truck,” said Legare, “and for $40,000, that will serve us for a few years until we can get a truck ordered.”

Legare added that this truck would likely need to be replaced within two to five years by a new vehicle, estimated to cost $700,000-$800,000.

“The town just doesn’t have that kind of money right now, so this new truck – new to us – will have to do the job until a way can be found to get a new one.”

The newest truck in the four-vehicle fleet is a mini pumper purchased in 2019 used for heavy rescue, medical calls and accidents. In addition, it pumps water from ponds to fill the tanker trucks and holds 300 gallons.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.