Charleston Gazette (West Virginia)
Copyright 2006 Charleston Newspapers

A Charleston Fire Department fire engine was severely damaged last week during a test drive with a South Charleston company's worker at the wheel, firefighters said.

The department sent the truck to Western Branch Diesel Inc. for engine maintenance, said CFD public information officer Dave Erwin.

During a worker's test drive in the Goff Mountain area on Aug. 8, the fire engine drove into a ditch then hit a concrete catch basin, he said.

Nobody was hurt, but there was significant damage to the cab area.

"None of our people were in the vehicle [when the wreck occurred]," Erwin said.

Damage to the 1999 model $265,000 truck, which was housed at Station No. 2 on the city's West Side, was estimated by one vendor to be $100,000.

"It's questionable if it was totaled," Erwin said.

The city has two spare fire engines that are more than 20 years old. The department might lease a fire engine until repairs are made or a replacement is purchased, he said.

A call to Western Branch Diesel was not returned.