NILES — City council recently approved a resolution authorizing the fire chief and safety director to apply for funds potentially to replace a decades-old fire truck.

According to the legislation, which was adopted as an emergency measure, the city is seeking about $1 million for the truck through the Assistance to Firefighters grant available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The city is looking to purchase a new 100-foot, aerial ladder truck.

Niles fire Chief John Stevens said the funds from FEMA are vital to securing the new fire truck. He said a new aerial ladder truck would cost about $2 million. The legislation said the city will provide matching funds in the amount of $1 million.

“Any assistance we can get in (funding) would be great,” Stevens said.

Stevens said, the Niles Fire Department has two frontline rescue trucks, one frontline engine truck and one frontline ladder truck. He also said the department has another engine truck on order.

Stevens said the newest vehicle in the department’s fleet is one of the rescue trucks that was delivered in January 2022. Another engine truck is set to be delivered to the department over the summer.

Stevens said the Niles Fire Department has been in the process of replacing its old vehicles in recent years.

“We put things off, going through fiscal emergency, it was kind of hard to make these purchases,” Stevens said. “But now, we’re kind of getting on track.”

Stevens said at this point, the aerial ladder truck the city is seeking to replace is the oldest in the fire department’s fleet. Stevens said the truck is several decades old.

“Our ladder truck, it was 1998 when we got it,” Stevens said. “It’s pushing 27 years, approximately, old. That is another concerning factor.”

Niles Mayor Steve Mientkiewicz said the city applied for the same grant through FEMA last year. The funds were not awarded to the city.

According to the agency’s website, “The primary goal of the Assistance to Firefighters grant is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and nonaffiliated emergency medical service organizations.”

The website said the Assistance to Firefighters grant, which has existed since 2001, regularly helps first responders acquire “critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources necessary for protecting the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.”

FEMA reported making 1,708 awards to various townships and municipalities across the United States during its fiscal year 2022 program, doling out a reported $324 million as of Sept. 20, 2023.

Local areas that received funding through the firefighters assistance program in 2023 included the Newton Falls Joint Fire District, which reportedly received $236,660 for operations and safety; Brookfield Township, which reportedly received $40,084 for operations and safety; and the city of Struthers, which reportedly received $123,866 for operations and safety.

Stevens said even if Niles were granted $1 million, which is the most money that can be awarded through the program, it would likely be several years before the new aerial ladder truck joined the department’s fleet.

“New truck builds, from what I’m hearing, are three to four years out,” Stevens said. “A 27-year-old truck plus three to four years and you’re looking at a 30 or 31-year-old truck.”

As is the case with any vehicle, with decades of use comes mechanical problems and the need for repairs regularly.

Stevens said within the last few years, the fire department has spent approximately $30,000 repairing the aerial ladder truck.

On top of general repairs that needed to be made to the old vehicle, Stevens said new firetruck models are safer.

“Obviously the newer technology is safer,” Stevens said. “Newer trucks are built safer according to different things out there; they keep updating the stuff on those (trucks).”

Mientkiewicz said the city is hoping its grant application will be successful this year.

“It’s very important for the fire department and the city in general because of the cost of these pieces of equipment and the need for it in the event of an emergency,” Mientkiewicz said.