LINCOLNVILLE — Hauling two-thirds of Florida water in its tanks for ballast, Lincolnville's brand new fire truck made its last miles up the east coast from Bradenton, Fla., to the Lincolnville Fire Station on Route 52, parking with a flourish late Saturday morning. A lineup of firefighters waited outside the station, and though some were in their hunting gear and others in their weekend Carhartts, the occasion was far from casual.

It had been months in production, then days on the road heading north, weeks more in Massachusetts getting gold-gilded and polished again, and finally, the town's newest addition to its stable of fire trucks was home in Maine.

Lincolnville carefully budgets for its fire apparatus, spacing out the purchase of new trucks every seven years. This was the year to replace an old 1,000-gallon capacity tanker built in 1981 with a new truck that can haul 3,000 gallons of water to the remotest of locations in a town with 56 miles of mostly rural roads and long dirt driveways.

On Saturday, Ray Smith, the Minuteman Fire and Rescue Apparatus sales rep (and longtime Portland firefighter) drove the new Pierce-built tanker to Lincolnville from Walpole, Massachusetts. The tanker had been built in Pierce Manufacturing's Florida plant in Bradenton, Fla., and Lincolnville's Fire Department received weekly photographs of the truck under construction. The tanker carried a $332,000 price tag, with 42 percent of that cost funded by donations from the fundraising portfolio of Lincolnville Fire Department, while the rest has been shouldered by Lincolnville taxpayers, who approved the purchase at town meeting last June.

On Nov. 3, Engine 3, with its International engine and Allison transmission, steamed through Rockport and Camden, then alongside Megunticook Lake — a smooth ride all the way, said Smith.

With typical Yankee reticence, the firefighters stood quietly as the truck pulled into the driveway of the fire station on Route 52, but as soon Smith parked and killed the engine, smiles broke out and there was swarm of men assessing every inch of the new vehicle — top, bottom and side, engine and controls. Especially impressed with the LED lights, they flipped switches, opened doors and the hood, tested instruments, lights and horn, and did just about everything else but kick the hard tires, which are large and tough with deep tread.

Fire Chief Jason Peasley said Nov. 4 that training has already started on the new truck, and on Sunday, eight firefighters spent several hours learning to drive it.

"Each firefighter will need mutiple driver training sessions before getting checked off," he said. "Pump training will take place on Tuesday and a representative from Minuteman will be coming on Saturday for a full day of training in everything. Over the next two to three weeks, there is a lot of eqipment to add, install and modify before we can put it in service."

Lincolnville has three other Pierce-built engines, and decided to go with Pierce again because of the company's history of producing quality fire trucks.

Lincolnville has an all-volunteer fire department with stations in Lincolnville Center and Lincolnville Beach. The department has approximately 20 to 25 volunteers, with one chief, a deputy chief, and two assistant chiefs.

Related stories:

The Maine-Wisconsin connection: Who builds these fire trucks taxpayers buy?