Gap Fire Company has a new addition to the family.

On Saturday, Sept. 12, starting at 11 a.m., the company will host an open house and housing ceremony to celebrate its brand new 2026 E-ONE CR-100 Cyclone aerial ladder truck.

Located at 802 Pequea Ave., Gap, the new truck will assist the all-volunteer fire company with its coverage of parts of Salisbury, Sadsbury and Paradise Townships. Gap Fire Company was incorporated in 1910 and chartered in 1924 and can be reached by calling 717-442-8100.

The housing ceremony coincides with the time of year where the company typically hosts an open house, so the events have been combined for this fall. At the event, there will be food trucks, fire safety demonstrations and firefighting demonstrations. The event is free to attend, and company merchandise will be available for purchase.

"They get to watch us cut apart a car," said Joe Kennedy, assistant fire chief. "While we're doing it, we usually have somebody, usually me, kind of narrate it. We use it not just as a demonstration, but also some education, so that kids kind of get an idea that vehicle accidents can be scary, but don't worry, the fire department's here to rescue you."

The new truck was purchased at a cost of $1,427,161, $700,000 of which came from support from Salisbury Township. Painted bright yellow and custom built for Gap Fire Company, the new addition has been years in the making.

"We have actually been working on this for about the last six or seven years now," Kennedy said. "(The township) set aside a decent chunk of money each year, specifically designed for apparatus replacement. We're keeping the lights on, our day-to-day expenses are fine, but there's no amount of ham and oyster suppers we can do to overcome a $1.4 million price tag."

In August, the company hosted nearby Pequea Valley Fire Company, Christiana Fire Company and White Horse Fire Company to get a first look at the new truck.

The new truck, like the old truck, has a 100-foot aerial ladder but has 101 feet of new ground ladders, in addition to increased storage capacities for life-saving equipment and tools. The high-angle rescue equipment has been updated, as well.

The truck replaces the company's 2002 E-ONE HP-100, which has faithfully served the company for more than 20 years. That truck was originally priced at $535,000, showing the drastic increase of fire apparatus cost over the past few decades. The company is looking to sell the old truck to offset some of the cost for the 2026 edition.

Considering the still rising costs of new equipment, the company has taken steps to budget for new apparatus in the future. The company will set aside a certain amount of money each year to go toward whichever part of its apparatus needs to be replaced next.

"We already know that we have to go into committee in about two years to replace our rescue truck, which is a 2010," Kennedy said. "We know that we have to replace this every 20 years as far as our average replacement plan is concerned, so we can plan that accordingly."

Gap Fire Company has around 40 active members. For any given emergency response, the company has an average of 17 personnel on the scene, which would be an impressive feat for a company of any size, more so a local company in Lancaster County.

"We are very, very blessed to have the local help that we do," Kennedy said. "We are also extraordinarily blessed that we have local businesses that allow their workers to leave work during the course of the day in the event of an emergency."