Grand Falls-Windsor misses out on funding to replace decades-old fire truck

Some fire trucks inside this building are now decades old and sometimes they break down on the highway in the middle of nowhere, far away from a mechanic. This truck is 20 years old and the town uses it for rescues on the highway. It carries the jaws of life and other gear used to help in car crashes. It wasn't always that way. The vehicle started its life as a pumper truck. But the town had it retrofitted to be a rescue vehicle, because this is the town's actual rescue truck. It's 30 years old and isn't able to travel long distances on the highway. Fire Chief Vince McKenzie says the truck hit the road for rescues more than 50 times this year and rescued 14 people. We respond to rescue now more than we do for fires. McKenzie and the fire department have a plan. He wants to buy a brand new truck for highway rescues, use this 20-year-old truck within town, and completely scrap the 30-year-old truck. The cost? About $1.12 million. I'd like to be able to just go and order a truck tomorrow, but at the end of the day it's all budgetary, and that will be up to council to look at the priorities of the town. The town applied for provincial government funding for this plan in 2026, but wasn't successful in getting any money from the province. In a statement to CBC News, The government says the province is spending $7 million this year for volunteer fire departments. It allocated about $4 million toward its Fire Vehicles and Equipment Grant Fund. But, after dozens of requests from fire departments across the province, the total ask was $31 million. Grand Falls-Windsor Mayor Mike Brown says the town will get the fire truck next year. So he's taking the town's needs to Confederation Building. That money would have to, for the new firefighting truck, would have to come from the provincial government. So we'll be working with the two ministers who represent Grand Falls-Windsor and also with our premier to ensure that hopefully we get some good news for the people of Grand Falls-Windsor next fall. Without the truck, repair bills keep piling up. McKenzie says the cost of a new truck also keeps going up fast. The provincial government says it will welcome new applications when the program reopens. Sanuta Ranawake, CBC News, Grand Falls, Windsor.