Onset Fire Chief Ray Goodwin hopes to soon replace a 30-year-old vehicle he described as the department’s “workhorse.”

“The truck is showing its age,” Goodwin told Onset Prudential Committee members Thursday afternoon. “I want to keep it on record that we need to move forward.”

Called Engine 1, the vehicle is a 1988 Maxim used to pump water and haul hoses and other equipment.

“The engine is the workhorse of the fleet,” said Goodwin. “It goes to most calls.”

Currently, Goodwin said the department has $210,000 saved in a new vehicle account he started four years ago to offset the vehicle’s cost. He noted that a new engine may cost between $400,000 and $600,000. Goodwin told committee members he was looking for a baseline model, one without “all the bells and whistles.”

Prudential Committee Chair Charles Klueber said his board was aware of the need for a new engine.

“We haven’t forgotten. It’s been on our radar,” said Klueber, adding that the board must consider other upcoming expenses. Among them is construction of a new, $8 million fire station Onset Fire District voters approved last May.

“We’re looking at some major capital items that will be coming down the line shortly,” said Klueber.

Goodwin said he would continue to research options for replacing the truck in the meantime.