It's bright red, has low miles and sprays water. The town of Montverde, in Lake County, is selling one of its new fire engines. Some town officials said it never should have been bought in the first place.
The tiny town of Montverde has 1,200 residents, 617 homes and two big red fire engines.
"There's 'need' to have and there's 'nice' to have and my job is to look at what we need," said Chief Steve Sette, Montverde Fire Department.
Sette said the town does not need both of the trucks. The newest one is almost never used.
"One [time it was used to put a fire out], that I can actually recall, maybe two," Sette said.
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In fact, the last working structure fire in Montverde was three years ago. The new truck is mostly used for backup.The two fire engines were bought about a year apart. In 2004, a $250,000 grant paid for one, but the town council agreed to buy the other one after a former Montverde firefighter argued that lives could be lost without it.
"The second truck. Yeah. That was a painted picture that maybe wasn't quite what the town needed," said Montverde town clerk Wayne Nichols.
But now the town is stuck with a $14,000 annual payment after putting $30,000 down. Chief Sette wants the town to buy a much smaller, more mobile, far less expensive truck. He said it will go well with one large engine, brush truck and the town's very first fire truck, that's still in service since 1956.
But the other big red fire engine, he wants to sell.
"It's an '04. It's basically brand new. It only has 4,500 miles on it. That kind of tells you, it does not get used," Sette said.
The Montverde town council is looking at the plan to purchase a smaller truck and put the larger engine up for sale. The city of Minneola has already expressed some interest.
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