Fire Department Dedicates New Engine

Millburn firefighters won't get to use the department's new engine until later this month, but the department celebrated its arrival with a dedication on Wednesday.

As part of the dedication and blessing, Monsignor George R. Trabold, the department's chaplain, prayed over the new engine before blessing it with holy water. Fire Chief Michael Roberts said the one time the department didn't have a piece of apparatus blessed, a ladder truck, it didn't work right after a month.

The department's firefighters were at the ceremony, many of them off-duty and bringing their families. Chiefs and firefighters from other departments, including Summit and South Orange also attended the event.

Engine 54 will be stationed at Millburn Fire Headquarters once it is ready to use, which Batallion Chief Ed Wade said would be later this month. There are some "odds and ends" that remain to be done, including installing radios and placing the hoses on the engines. Plus firefighters need to train on the engine, including a new foam system that accompanies the truck. The final cost of the engine is $490,000.

It's taken about five years for the department to receive the new engine, which should have been delivered two years ago.

Township officials changed their contract with Campbell Supply of Edison a year ago to buy a 1,500-gallon-per-minute Class A pumper from Crimson instead of American LaFrance. The price tag stayed the same.

Officials ordered an engine from American LaFrance in 2007, and it should have been delivered in 2008. It typically takes a year for a fire engine to be delivered.  The delay occurred because American LaFrance filed for bankruptcy and has been reorganizing. Because it was taking so long to build the engine, American LaFrance loaned the department a truck for $1.

But because of further delays predicted a year ago, fire officials changed their order to Crimson. Also, American LaFrance took back the loaned truck last winter. The department has been borrowing engines from area departments. They had one from Summit until that department needed it back. Right now the department has an engine on loan from Livingston. They also were ready to borrow an engine from the Newark department if needed, but that never happened.