The Sun City Fire District board of directors approved the purchase of a new fire engine at its meeting Feb. 27, but residents will not see it on the roads anytime soon.

“Today they are quoting us 40-42 months for the build,” said Acting Chief Rob Schmidt. “Our plan calls for the need of two new trucks in 2026. We obviously won’t get this new one in that time frame, and we have decided to postpone the order of the second one to spread out ordering two at the same time.”

The district currently has three engines and one ladder truck in its fleet. It fielded one new engine in September 2023, but that one also had been purchased well in advance of its delivery. Delivery was expected to be 12-14 months after purchase, but it was received 18 months later.

“We have a capital improvement plan that has been set up to replace our fire engines at the nine-year mark, but we have found that maintenance costs start to outpace the replacement need,” Schmidt said.

The replacement need, coupled with delivery time, is prompting the district to act now, he said.

Unfortunately, he said, the time difference between purchase and delivery is only getting longer, and the cost is escalating quickly. In addition to quoted delivery times increasing from 12-14 months to 40-42 months, an increase in demand has prompted a marked increase in costs. The same Sutphen heavy duty rescue pumper delivered in 2023 was purchased in 2021 for $516,890.85 now has a price tag of $903,742.71.

“As you can see, the truck cost went up before tax $386,851.86 or 74.84% in just two-and-half years,” Schmidt said.

The increase in delivery time and cost is a result of expanding population needs nationwide and the passage of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act, Schmidt said.

Through SLFRP, more than 30,000 state, territorial, local and Tribal governments nationwide are investing $350 billion to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and this includes first responders. That influx of money has caused high demand for fire equipment with the effect of longer delays and higher costs.

The board voted 3-0 to provide up to $1 million for the new engine, which includes new equipment necessary for its operation. Board Member Phil La Barbera was not present and Board Chairman Tim Wilmes’ personal policy is not to vote on issues, except to break ties.