PORTAGE | The Fire Department's newest addition should be in service within the next couple of months, but only after the locally-designed engine is first displayed at a national conference.

Fire Chief Bill Lundy said the new engine was designed by a team of Portage firefighters to meet the needs of the city's department. The team includes Assistant Fire Chief Mike Bucy, Lt. Ray Blazek, Lt. Mark Malarik and engineers Chris Gonzales and Jim Talmadge.

The new engine, which will replace Engine 3 at Fire Station No. 1 at City Hall, features a stainless steel pump to increase water flow, better capacity to carry personnel, extrication equipment stored in the front bumper for improved efficiency and more space to carry emergency medical service equipment.

The 15-year-old Engine 3, which currently is out of service, eventually will become a reserve unit.

The engine is coming to the city after some delay, Lundy said. He said it usually takes 12 months from ordering to delivery. Although the city ordered the engine in late 2005, an increased demand for fire engines due to the number destroyed during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the fall of 2005 extended the timeline.

At a cost of $450,000, including equipment, the engine is being constructed at the South Carolina plant of American LaFrance.

Before it arrives in Portage, the engine will be on display at the 2007 Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis from April 19 to April 21. In exchange for allowing the engine to be displayed, the manufacturer has extended the engine's warranty from one to five years, Lundy said.

From Indianapolis, the engine will be delivered to Fire Service Inc. in St. John for final detailing, including the installation of a digital video camera and radios. Once the engine reaches its home, firefighters will spend about two weeks in training on the new apparatus and install more equipment.

With the addition, the department's apparatus inventory will include four engines, one ladder truck, one tower truck, three rescue trucks, one special operations vehicle and one reserve engine.

Lundy said the public will be able to view the truck once it is ready for service.