CANFIELD — The Cardinal Joint Fire District board of directors met Monday and approved spending $1.09 million for the district’s new ladder truck.

The expenditure request came after the district received a $1.4 million loan from Farmers National Bank for the new truck and the equipment it would need before being put into service.

Fire Chief Don Hutchison said the new ladder truck will remain at Station 2 on Herbert Road as crews train on how to operate it. The training will take place March 4-6, then the truck will be sent to a company that will outfit it with the equipment it will carry when it goes into service.

“It will be in service on April 1,” Hutchison said.

He added an update on the district’s new ambulances, which were ordered three years ago and will arrive the last week of March. One other note of interest involving vehicles was the wheel fire on Squad 101. Hutchison said the truck responded to an alarm and the brakes seemed to freeze up in the extreme cold.

“When it returned to the station, the rear wheels were on fire,” he said. “This could be a $12,000 repair.”

Board director Richard Russo said it will probably be better to pay for the repairs out of pocket because if it is submitted through insurance, the department’s rate could increase.

Hutchison also reported on the bathroom at Station 1 on Lisbon Street.

“The Station 1 bathroom should be a priority,” he said. “Both toilets rock back and forth and the wall that holds the urinal is concave.”

Hutchison said the cost of repairs are in the $18,000 to $20,000 range.

Russo suggested going with quality materials and redoing the bathroom to last for years. The rest of the board seemed to agree.

Another issue was the access from the second floor to the first floor. Recently, a firefighter twisted an ankle running down the stairs during a call. Hutchison said he is looking at a slide that would be faster and safer.

“We need to ask the captains to go around and check the buildings and make a list of things that are wrong, or items they would like to see,” Russo said. “From that, we could put a plan together.”

In other business, the board:

• Approved the purchase of 26 pairs of gloves and 10 hoods from Blue Line LTD at a cost of $3,468.

• Listened to Hutchison give the call report that included 231 calls, of which 116 were for ambulance service. There also were eight mutual aid calls and three mutual aids received.

“We had a $20,000 fire loss to a shed / man cave on Burgett Lane that was caused by a wood burner igniting the roof,” he said.

• Approved the hiring of Peter Oberacker from Stark County as a full-time firefighter / EMT, and Austin Hungerford from Ashtabula as part-time. Hutchison said this hiring will bring the department to 27 full-time and 12 part-time with two off with injuries. He said 12 more hires would be perfect as he still is seeking qualified candidates.