SALISBURY — Two valuable emergency vehicles just took up residence at the Salisbury Fire Department, but taxpayers won't find they arrived sporting big price tags.

Salisbury Ladder 1, a used, 110-foot ladder truck, arrived at the beginning of June, after Town Meeting approved the $50,000 purchase from funds in the town's surplus account. New ladder trucks are usually million-dollar vehicles.

And a rescue boat came free of charge, the result of the federal government's surplus equipment program, said Salisbury fire Capt. Mike Merritt. The orange boat is a former Coast Guard rescue boat put up for grabs by the government and claimed quickly by Salisbury Chief Rick Souliotis, even though a number of other communities desired it as well.

The boat was towed up to Salisbury from its berth on Cape Cod. Merritt said the department plans to launch the boat next week, in time for the Sand and Sea Festival on June 27 and 28.

The festival will feature nationally ranked Toyota Sea Doo racing off Salisbury Beach Center and a fireworks display, which will be launched from a barge off the beach.

Merritt said the boat can be used should swimmers or boaters become distressed along the 3-mile stretch of Salisbury Beach and along the Merrimack River, which has swift and difficult currents.

Ladder 1 has spent the past few weeks getting spruced up and rigged to fit Salisbury's needs, Merritt said. The ladder truck was originally part of the Reading Fire Department's fleet, but when Reading got a new ladder truck, they sold the older one to Wakefield's Fleet Master used equipment dealer.

The vehicle is welcome in Salisbury, which had to junk its former ladder truck because it couldn't be certified or pass inspection.

But Ladder 1 has passed all its safety inspections and is certified, and will soon be commissioned to work in town, Merritt said.

"In firefighting terms, a ladder truck is the department's tool chest," Merritt said. "It's where you store all the important equipment you bring to fires. This one is set for the Jaws of Life and it has a generator for backup."

Since losing the ladder trunk, Salisbury firefighters have had to use ground ladders, propped against burning buildings, to get on top of roofs to vent fires within structures.

"You vent the roof to get fire out of the building to make the environment in the building safer for firefighters, who fight the fire from the interior," Merritt said. "The ladder is needed to fight multilevel building fires and for chimney fires."

The ladder will be use to fight fires if they ever occur in the three- to five-story residences at the beach and at beach homes that are positioned one behind the other, he said.

What has Salisbury done since losing its own ladder?

"God bless mutual aid," Merritt said.

But town officials worried about the town's level of safety should ladder trucks in neighboring communities not being available. Even though Salisbury is facing reduced revenues in light of the recession, officials and Town Meeting felt spending $50,000 for a ladder truck was too good an opportunity to pass up.