The new fire engine will replace one that's 20 years old.

PARADISE, Calif. - Paradise Town Council unanimously voted to approve three public safety items on its agenda Tuesday night. One of those included the purchase of a new fire engine.

The new engine will be manned at station 82 off of Pearson Rd. It will replace an engine that's 20 years old.

“You have a pump house, an engine, transmission, gear boxes, you have pumps and if any one of these fails, then you put the lives of not only the public but the firefighters at risk," said Paradise fleet supervisor Chris Nicoletti. "If you are running a piece of equipment from 2002, it’s almost impossible to know for sure that every single thing on that engine is perfectly maintained.”

The old engine will be similar to one already used at Paradise Fire Station 81. The town says it should arrive within the next 8 to 12 months. After that, every engine in Paradise will be less than 5 years old.

"With the most up-to-date fleet in Butte County with the newest and best equipment, we will be the best prepared to protect this town in case of an emergency," said Nicoletti.

Having new engines is a big change from where Paradise was just 6 years ago.

“When I got to the Town of Paradise, we had engines from all the way back in the 1980s," said Nicoletti. "Our newest one was a 2008 in the time and I got here in about 2016."

The town rents its engines out for fires and made over $570,000 the past two years combined. That money will cover the new engine cost along with the Measure B half percent sales tax that was passed four years ago for these purchases.

A new dispatch radio system for the Paradise Police Department was also approved. The town says it plans to hire dispatchers starting next year.

“I think that we probably learned our lesson," said Camp Fire survivor Terry Taylor. "They’ll be more prepared than we were last time, but you couldn’t really prepare for a fire storm, it’s impossible. I think everyone did the best they could, really."

Paradise Mayor Steve Crowder says the new dispatch center will be much improved and will allow communication throughout the whole county, something the town didn't have before the Camp Fire.

Paradise will also hold a special meeting Thursday night to discuss projects to be funded by the nearly $200 Million in infrastructure grant money the town was awarded last month.

Ryan Ketcham is a reporter for Action News Now. Reach out to Ryan with story ideas at news@actionnewsnow.com.

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