PRESQUE ISLE – Presque Isle’s newest piece of equipment, a $731,000 firetruck, was placed into service Monday, one day before the city’s old ladder truck travels to a new home in Limestone.

The 2005 Pierce Dash ladder truck was ordered in February 2005. The truck was to be delivered last November, but a crunch brought on by Hurricane Katrina pushed back the delivery date.

The ladder truck, which has a reach of 105 feet, replaces a 1982 ladder truck that had a reach of 74 feet. The old truck, which originally cost $220,000, has been purchased by Limestone for $27,000.

The new truck was paid for entirely from city tax coffers. The capital account paid $191,000, city reserves provided $300,000 and the remainder was financed.

The financed amount will be repaid over eight years using money from the city’s capital fund. The amount received from Limestone for the old truck also goes toward the purchase.

“It’s a much safer vehicle for the firefighters,” Jim Krysiak, fire chief at Presque Isle, said Monday as he showed off the new piece of machinery. “We are replacing a 24-year-old vehicle.

“The cab of the new truck has room for five” fully outfitted firefighters, he said. “It has a much longer reach, and can shoot water farther.”

Krysiak said the new firetruck is also expected to last longer because much of the truck is constructed with stainless steel. He expects the truck will last 25 to 30 years compared to 15 to 20 years for regular trucks.

The new truck was manufactured and equipped by Minuteman Fire and Truck Inc., the lone bidder among the five bid packages sent out by the city.

The three-axle truck, which is also a pumper, is 42 feet long and 11 feet, 5 inches high. The unit weighs more than 77,000 pounds.

Krysiak said the unit is more for reach than height in Presque Isle. The city does not have any 105-foot high buildings, but many structures are far from where you can bring trucks.

The Presque Isle Fire Department has 16 full-time firefighters and 33 members who are paid per call. The department is staffed in shifts by five full-time people 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The new unit joins eight other vehicles in the department’s garage on North Street.