NORWAY — Voters will be asked to give the go-ahead to finance a $325,000 used ladder truck the Norway Fire Department hopes to purchase at a special town meeting Thursday.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Town Office.

The Fire Department hopes to buy a 2004 Pierce Dash, with a 100-foot-tall platform that is currently in Manassas, Va. The decision was made last week after a contingent from Norway went to Virginia to have a firsthand look at the truck, which they found through a broker.

Voters will be asked to authorize the purchase of the ladder truck by authorizing  $110,000 from the savings and financing the remaining purchase price.

Town Manager David Holt said his recommendation for a town meeting gives the town more flexibility with the financing and a chance for voters to weigh in on the purchase.

The new truck has only 29,000 miles on it and is being sold because it became too big for the streets of the city that owned it when traffic increased over the past decade. If the purchase is approved, it will replace a 1980 Norway engine that has become difficult to maneuver.

The Board of Selectmen gave Yates the go-ahead on Dec. 3 to pursue the truck which would be used for structure fires, chimney fires and a multitude of other uses.

Yates said Oxford has a 100-foot-tall ladder truck and Paris a 75-foot-tall ladder truck, but there is no assurance either will be available or available in quick enough time in case of a catastrophic fire. Paris is an on-call department at night.

The purchase would also prevent the town’s insurance rating from increasing about 20 percent, which can happen if the department does not have a ladder truck.

Yates told selectmen on Dec. 3 that a new ladder truck would cost more than $1 million and that this particular model is a good buy because the current owners got it through a FEMA grant.

If voters OK the purchase, the truck will probably be driven back the 600 miles to Maine.

“It’s no small issue — it’s an undertaking,” Town Manager David Holt said.

The truck could be put on a flatbed to ship to Maine, but Holt said it would be much less expensive to drive it if there is good weather.

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