CANTON — The Town Council has committed $200,000 to the Canton Fire Department for the purchase of a ladder truck.

"It was a big boost," said Michael K. Morgan, department treasurer. "The town was very receptive to us right from the get-go."

The village Board of Trustees is expected to make a contribution when it meets Monday. St. Lawrence University, SUNY Canton and the Canton Housing Authority, which oversees the senior citizen high-rise complexes on Riverside Drive, also have been approached to help pay for the $685,000 truck.

The department will make up the difference. "We expect our contribution to be significant," Mr. Morgan said.

The department came across the slightly used ladder truck by chance. It knew its 30-year-old ladder truck, which is rusting and has to be certified annually for safety, was nearing the end of the line.

"If it hadn't been refurbished in the early '90s, it would have been past its useful life," Mr. Morgan said. "If it fails, it's out of service. The village simply can't be without it."

Department members have discussed replacing the truck for two years. They recently approached Mayor Charlotte C. Ramsay, who created an ad hoc committee chaired by Mr. Morgan and Trustee Jesse C. Coburn.

"We expected to be two years — a year raising money and a year building the truck," Mr. Morgan said.

When committee members started pricing what they wanted, they found a truck at Seagrave Manufacturing, Clintonville, Wis., that was returned after nine months of service from a department in Odenton, Md., which found it didn't meet its needs.

Rather than pay $1.2 million for a new vehicle, the department hoped to speed up a deal.

"We could have this truck by the end of June," Mr. Morgan said.

If the purchase goes through, the old ladder truck will be marketed. The sale, expected to bring in about $30,000, will be applied to the price of the truck.

At its meeting Tuesday, the Town Council also approved $2,000 for the Pyrites Fire Department. It recently approved $2,000 for the Morley Fire Department, Supervisor David T. Button said.