ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP –The Glenmoor Fire Department is ordering a new engine to replace Engine 35 which was purchased in 1992.

Capt. Derrick Smith said the department expects to be placing the order for the new engine within the next month.

With the building for the fire station paid off and prices of new engines expected to rise within the next month now is the time. Smith noted that the department has been considering the purchase for some time.

According to Smith the Spartan Engine they have received a quote for is going to cost approximately $800,000 if ordered soon. If they wait it is expected to rise at least $50,000 in a month and possibly more than that once new EPA regulations go into effect.

According to Smith, they can get around rising costs and the 800-day wait/build time for a custom truck if they go with one built from stock parts.

The new engine is going to be a lot different than the engine it is replacing but will have all the same capabilities and more.

By purchasing a truck built from stock parts, according to Smith, the department is getting a better truck at a lesser price and in time than if they went with a fully custom build one. If the department choose to custom build the earliest they would take delivery of a new engine would likely be late 2026. Smith expects to have the new engine they are ready to order at the station by springtime.

“By next spring if everything goes well that truck will be at our station,” Smith said. “Stock unit check every box we have and some we didn’t have. It does everything we want it to do, and we already have the body sitting there which takes most of the lead time out of it. When it arrives at the station it will be turnkey ready with all the tools already on it.”

Smith said he went to Canton to meet with a department which purchased almost the same truck they are looking at and found it to meet all their needs.

Build on the engine would start in Michigan and then go to South Dakota for work before being finished up by Johnson Fire Equipment just south of Columbus.

The price includes the build, the painting, the tool mount and an approximately $17,000 tool allowance.

The department has no grants for the truck and plans to put a substantial down payment on it and finance the remaining balance.

“We need it. We are building this truck for the residents of St. Clair Township,” Smith said. “We got a lot of comments on this, and we listened to everyone’s opinion. Everyone has a buy-in on this. It’s not us buying what we want.”

The new engine will have more capabilities than what they currently have. It will be able to pump more water faster and have onboard storage for foam. A side mount cab narrows the wheelbase making the engine easier to turn onto narrow roads and into driveways. A shorter turning radius, according to Smith, will ease the troubles dealt with on the current truck.

Once the new engine arrives at the station, Smith said the fire department plans to invite the community to participate with them in the long-standing tradition in fire services of spraying the truck and pushing it into the station.