The Wapello Fire Department is getting a new firetruck.
After being authorized $325,000 from the Wapello City Council due to damage from their former ladder truck, the department got to work. However, increasing costs of fire apparatus and demand made it awfully difficult to find what they were looking for. Spending months combing through every used aerial apparatus listing, all the acceptable ones were too expensive. That’s where Facebook comes in. Scrolling through the popular interface, a used aerial was found in Texas for less than $200,000.
Firefighters traveled to Texas and spent over 6 hours performing a detailed inspection and found that the truck was acceptable. Purchasing it for just $175,000, the truck arrived yesterday morning. According to the department, a ladder truck equivalent to this one would be 1.8 million dollars if purchased new today. Photos are posted on their Facebook page, Wapello Fire and Rescue, if you’d like to check the truck out for yourself.