The construction and delivery of a new ladder truck for the Newton Fire Department has been delayed due to a bad batch of steel. The ladder truck is to be manufactured by Pierce Manufacturing Incorporated in Appleton, Wisconsin.  

Newton City Administrator Matt Muckler says Newton Fire Chief Jarrod Wellik had a meeting about the ladder truck recently. In that meeting, Muckler says Pierce shared that last summer, they received a batch of faulty steel from their supplier. That has set their production schedule for ladder truck construction back an estimated six months. The estimated delivery of Newton’s new ladder truck will be pushed back from May of 2026 to sometime late that fall or early winter.

The Newton City Council approved the $2,070,000 purchase agreement for the ladder truck and some related equipment on May 1st, 2023. At that time, it was expected the ladder truck would be built in about 36 months. Muckler says another update on the ladder truck will be shared closer to production.