Truck engine costs to be split three ways

The village, town and Belgium Fire Department have agreed to split the cost of replacing the engine on a 1995 pumper.

The truck, while on its way to a recent training session, had a piston blow through its engine block, which is detrimental to a machine’s ability to operate.

Fire Chief Dan Birenbaum said there were no warning signs and it was nobody’s fault.

“It just happens,” he said.

The Belgium Town Board last week agreed to pay as much as $12,000 to replace the engine. The Village Board on Monday agreed to pay $8,800 toward the cause.

Birenbaum said the estimate to rebuild the engine is $29,700 at How-Dea Service Center in Belgium. The department will pick up the final $8,900.

“We’ve got areas where we were under expense on some of the line items,” Birenbaum said.

The engine was ordered on Tuesday. Birenbaum said he hopes the truck can be fixed by the end of December.

The department’s share has been made easier to cover since an anonymous donor is helping pay for a new $89,264 grass fire truck that is expected to go out on all fire calls. The village and town are combining to pay $75,000 for the truck.