City to retire fire truck

City officials agreed it's time to retire the 922 red pumper truck, which made its first run in 1996.Plans call for replacing the truck by late 2014. They've budgeted about $550,000 for a fresh purchase.The truck served as a frontline firefighting vehicle for 14 years.Firefighters still use the truck as a backup for emergencies when other trucks are busy or otherwise unavailable.The truck is still in good condition, Sandusky fire Chief Paul Ricci said.All told, firefighters stretched out the truck's life to 18 years — about three years more than what's traditionally expected of these vehicles."Our fleet maintenance crew does an incredible job of keeping our vehicles in service and allows us to (delay) the replacements," Ricci said. "We need to replace it because the maintenance costs start to go up. We want to replace the truck with a little life in it versus (replacing one) with no life."City officials plan to obtain the $550,000 from an account dedicated to replacing or repairing fire vehicles and equipment.The account, which generates income through ambulance billing, shows a current balance of $1.8 million.