SCHERERVILLE | The Schererville Fire Department will wait until next year to buy new firefighting apparatus.

A committee choosing specifications for two new trucks was under the impression that the town wouldn't have to seek bids if the trucks were ordered on a lease-to-purchase plan, Deputy Fire Chief Robert Patterson said.

He hoped the town could buy the trucks this year.

But Town Attorney David Austgen said Schererville must seek bids, because it is a public purchase.

Fire Chief Joseph Kruzan said he hopes the town will put out bids in January.

The Town Council, although supporting the department's request, has not advised the Fire Department on how to pay for the purchase, Kruzan said.

The cost of the trucks will increase next year, as new safety standards go into effect Jan. 1. Fire apparatus will be required to have certain features, such as additional reflective striping and a device that records movement, similar to a black box in airplanes, Kruzan said.

Specifications for apparatus the committee already approved will need to be tweaked to include those changes. The National Fire Protection Association mandates could tack on between $10,000 and $18,000 to the cost of each apparatus.

The department wants two trucks to replace an existing 1986 pumper and a 1973 five-function apparatus, which was eliminated last year.

"We feel that both pieces of equipment are relevant," Kruzan said.

If financial reasons force fire officials to choose between a new five-function apparatus or new pumper, they'd choose the "quint," which can navigate narrow streets, he said.

If the town decides it can afford both apparatus, the Fire Department would like them to be designed as mirror images of each other, so that equipment and features are in the same place, Patterson said.