GREENFIELD — City Council voted unanimously to approve the $1.9 million purchase of a new ladder truck for the Fire Department Wednesday night, following a unanimous vote of approval at a Ways and Means Committee meeting the night before.

The funding, which came from transferring $1.6 million from the city’s Capital Stabilization Fund along with transferring an additional $300,000 from the Ambulance Revolving Account, will replace the city’s 25-year-old ladder truck. According to Fire Chief Robert Strahan, the department has anticipated the expense for the last 12 years.

“I’ve been telling City Council since I took over as chief, we need to be prepared for this big purchase that’s coming down the road. Every year, when I did my budget; every year, when I presented capital outlay, I said, ‘This is to prepare us for the big purchase that’s coming down the road,’” Strahan said at Tuesday’s Ways and Means Committee. “Steel prices keep going up, the electronics keep going up, everything that builds the truck. It’s not like a mass-produced car that you would buy on a lot. These trucks are custom-built. Every bolt, every screw, everything is custom-made and manufactured that way.”

Buying the new ladder truck, Strahan remarked, would allow local firefighters to access some of the city’s tallest structures in the event of a fire. He added that the ladder’s addition to the city fleet would boost its Public Protection Classification rating, or ISO score, which measures the effectiveness of a municipality’s fire department and is used to set insurance rates.

When Precinct 7 Councilor William “Wid” Perry asked whether the ladder truck would be used solely in Greenfield, or for mutual aid responses to other communities, Strahan responded that since fire departments often use multiple ladder trucks when extinguishing larger structure fires, the department will use the truck both in Greenfield and in neighboring towns.

“The city of Greenfield, because of the size of the buildings we have, needs to have its own ladder truck,” Strahan said. “ISO ratings, which affect everybody’s insurance, require any municipality that has buildings that are three or more stories, if you have more than four of them, you need to have a ladder truck.”

Acknowledging that the Fire Department recently saw the construction of its approximately $22 million Fire Station, Strahan mentioned that should the decision to buy a new ladder be put off, the costs are expected to increase by roughly 3% per quarter.

Strahan added that, within the next five to eight years, the department will likely need to replace a fire engine — an expense that was slowly “creeping up” on the city. He said the addition of a new ladder truck in the department’s fleet will give firefighters some “breathing room” before the engine replacement.

He included that the ladder truck will, in fact, fit inside the Fire Station.

“I appreciate the dialogue we had last night [at the Ways and Means Committee meeting]. ... I really appreciate the questions,” Strahan told City Council on Wednesday. “This is not an item that anybody should take lightly, including myself, when I bring it forward.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.