Niles trustees approved the donation of a 1996 fire department pumper engine to South suburban Ford Heights at the July 10 village board meeting.
The engine was taken out of service in 2015 when the fire department purchased a new engine. The last time the village tried to sell a used engine of a similar vintage, a village memo and Fire Chief Marty Feld said it took three years to sell — and sold for scrap for less than $3,000.
Ford Heights has just one working fire engine, meaning if that engine is ever taken out of service, other communities must be called upon to respond to any fire related calls. The Niles engine will become Ford Heights’ second engine, Feld said. The donation is being coordinated through the state fire marshal’s office.
Another new engine Feld hopes to purchase this fall would cost somewhere between $600,000 and $700,000. It would leave the Niles Fire Dept. with two engines in reserve (models from 2013 and 2001).