If the City of Warren Fire Department’s new Engine No. 1 — which arrived Wednesday — provides those two critical firefighting elements to the city, it will have served both the department and the city’s residents well.

Chief Rodney Wren said there are “so many safety features” aimed at preventing firefighters from getting hurt — lighting, gauges and sensors.

The city’s current Engine No. 1 was built in 1993 and is “well past” it’s useful life he said.

“This monitors itself,” he added. “The safety features are just astronomical” to both “keep fire fighters and residents safe.”

Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton The City of Warren’s new Engine No. 1 will go into service as soon as early next week.

The old Engine No. 1 will be donated to the Warren County Career Center.

Wren, citing the operational display of the engine, said students can see those pictures in a book but with the truck “can get out and train, squirt water if the school will let them.”

Steve Hoffman, the department’s operations and training officer, said the value of the students being able to learn how to work the equipment is more valuable to them than whatever the city would have been able to gain in trade-in value.

Wren said the truck will be in service early next week, leaving the fire fighters a bit of time to train and get used to the pump.

He explained this truck is operationally identical to the ladder truck sans, of course, the tower.

“The transition will be seamless,” he added.

Hoffman said the department started working on grants to replace Engine #1 back in 2017.

The advances in technology since 1993 will allow the city to deploy the engine faster than the current apparatus.

“Time is life,” Hoffman said. “Every second counts.”