NORTHFIELD — The Northfield Fire Department has found a used rescue truck in New York to replace its 1986 GMC rescue truck.

After voters at last year’s Annual Town Meeting approved using up to $225,000 in free cash to replace the truck, the department spent several months looking for an appropriate vehicle located somewhere within the Northeast and ultimately settled on a 2010 Pierce International rescue truck with 10,180 miles on it, owned by the Massena (New York) Fire Department.

“After looking at it, driving it, crawling underneath it, through it, measuring all the compartments, we felt as though it would be a good replacement for our [nearly] 40-year-old rescue,” Northfield Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III said, noting that this was an uncommonly lucky opportunity. “In all honesty, it’s almost like a brand new truck. It’s in very, very good shape.”

Parts are becoming increasingly hard to find for the department’s current vehicle, last year’s Annual Town Meeting warrant explained.

“The truck cab is showing signs of rust and the rescue body has developed issues with the compartment door hinges, locks and corrosion,” the warrant continued.

The replacement truck in New York had an asking price of $180,000, which Dunnell said he was able to negotiate down to $160,000. The rest of the $225,000 that was appropriated at Town Meeting will go toward the costs of repainting, lettering, shelving reconfiguration and replacing the tires.

Dunnell explained the new truck has a double cab, an upgrade from the current one. It is also half an inch shorter than the current rescue truck, so Dunnell is confident it will fit well in the Fire Station’s bay, unlike some of the other vehicles the department looked at.

Dunnell expects the department will be able to use the truck in as soon as a few months. He believes it will last Northfield at least 20 years.

“We were in a situation where we [didn’t have] a dire need to immediately replace our rescue,” he said. “It gave us the time to be very selective and find a piece of equipment that will definitely last the town the next 20 years.”