NM Counties, Cities, Not Yet Among Those From Maine to California Suing Fire Truck Manufacturers For Costly, Unfair Schemes

Close to Twenty Counties and Cities Across U.S. Are Suing Fire Truck Manufacturers and a Private Equity Firm, Alleging Companies Conspired to Reduce Competition.

“Through their illegal schemes, Defendants have reaped extraordinary profits on the backs of fire departments, taxpayers, cities, and counties.” – See Page 5., Federal Court filing by Los Angeles County, at end of this story.

In 2025, it is estimated that communities throughout the United States spent about $3.4 billion on new fire trucks.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)*, estimates the cost for a new fire truck has risen from about $500,000 to $600,000 in 2020, to over $1,000,000 in 2025 – a frustratingly high increase for thousands of municipal and county budgets.

Equally, and possibly even more frustrating, is the wait for delivery of a new truck once a community’s fire department places the order.

NFPA writes the “time it takes to receive the apparatus has also skyrocketed, from about 8 to 12 months pre-COVID to two, three, or even four years, depending on the vehicle. Departments ordering trucks today might not realistically receive them until 2030.”

(*The website of NFPA describes the organization as “a trusted and respected fixture in the lives of safety professionals across the globe. As a self-funded nonprofit, the association strives to help save lives and reduce loss with information, knowledge, and passion.”) 

More and more communities have concluded that the rapid increase in prices and the extended wait to get a fire truck once the order is placed has been manipulated by a small group of business interests.

Believing these business interests have broken the law while driving up those prices, cities in Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, the Durango Fire Protection District, and Los Angeles County in California filed Anti-Trust and Unfair Competition Complaints in Federal Courts.

Earlier this month many of those cases were reviewed by the UNITED STATES JUDICIAL PANEL
on MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION relative to proper venue, re-identified as the FIRE APPARATUS ANTITRUST LITIGATION, and were transferred to the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

It is clear this is not a Left or Right, Blue State or Red State, issue.

The communities filing as Plaintiffs are located in states with legislative bodies controlled by the Democratic party and some controlled by the Republican party.

Even Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, known as a supporter of corporate interests, has opened an investigation into firetruck manufacturers for potential anticompetitive conduct following complaints raised by Texas municipalities and their fire departments.

Paxton wrote in a February 2026, press release, “Our state’s firefighters put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe, and departments deserve fair access to reliable, up to date equipment at reasonable prices,” said Attorney General Paxton. “I will not allow public safety or the well-being of our firefighters to be compromised by unethical and illegal corporate activity.”

Other cases are currently in the Federal Courts in California.

The Plaintiff communities and Fire Districts pull no punches with the Defendant Fire Truck manufacturers and the Private Equity firm associated with them.

And according to the federal lawsuit filed last October by the city of Augusta, the capital city of the State of Maine, “Three Fire Truck manufacturers—REV Group, Inc. (“REV Group”), Oshkosh Corporation (“Oshkosh”), and Rosenbauer America LLC (“Rosenbauer”) (collectively “Manufacturer Defendants”)—are responsible for increasing Fire Truck prices and perpetuating lengthy backlogs. Together, these three manufacturers control between 70 and 80 percent of the U.S. Fire Truck market, and they have unlawfully conspired to use their collective market power to suppress the Fire Truck supply and raise prices.“

The Los Angeles County litigation alleges the, “… Defendants have consolidated the relevant markets and ballooned their respective market shares, enabling them to dictate the terms on which apparatuses and chassis are purchased and extract hundreds of millions of dollars in value from public entities and taxpayers. Defendants’ acquisitions have destroyed any meaningful competition in these markets.”

The Los Angeles County litigation also identifies the private equity firm involved as “The AIP Funds, which include Defendant American Industrial Partners Capital Fund IV LP (“AIP Fund IV”), Defendant American Industrial Partners Capital Fund IV (Parallel), LP (“AIP Parallel Fund”), and Defendant AIP/CHC Holdings, LLC (“AIP Holdings”).”

The City of Augusta lawsuit continues,

“The Manufacturer Defendants have perpetrated their conspiracy in part through the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (“FAMA”). The Manufacturer Defendants, along with most other Fire Truck manufacturers in the country, submit sensitive, non-public economic data to FAMA. FAMA sends the data to an outside consulting company, which compiles the data into reports that FAMA then distributes to its members. FAMA also provides a forum for Manufacturer Defendants to communicate with each other directly during yearly members-only meetings.” –City of Augusta, Maine Original Complaint

“The economic data manufacturers obtain from FAMA is not the type of information that competitors would provide each other in a normal, competitive market. The Manufacturer Defendants use the sensitive economic data FAMA shares with them to coordinate price increases and suppress production. They also use FAMA to monitor their co-conspirators to ensure continued adherence to the conspiracy.” – City of Augusta, Maine Original Complaint

“As a result of each Defendant’s unlawful conduct, Plaintiff and Class members paid
artificially inflated prices for Fire Trucks during the class period. Such prices exceeded the amount they would have paid if the price for Fire Trucks had been determined by a competitive market. Thus, Defendants’ conduct injured Plaintiff and Class members.” – City of Augusta, Maine Original Complaint

“None of the FAMA reports are available to anyone other than the manufacturers themselves. As a result, buyers in the market, including Plaintiff and Class members, operate at a disadvantage. By restricting data access, FAMA reports create an information asymmetry that benefits the Manufacturer Defendants at buyers’ expense. This information exchange is particularly likely to have anticompetitive effects because so few sellers control the Fire Truck market.” – City of Augusta, Maine Original Complaint

“Thanks to their conspiracy, Manufacturer Defendants have been able to consistently increase their margins by several percentage points and boost total profits, all without concern that their competitors will try to steal market share. Nor are Manufacturer Defendants phased by potential new entrants, because high barriers to entry prevent new competitors from coming into the market.” – City of Augusta, Maine Original Complaint

The Plaintiffs are seeking treble damages (triple the actual, compensatory damages awarded to a plaintiff), as is allowed if they prevail in proving their case.

It Appears No New Mexico Community Has Entered in This National Fight, Yet.

The Candle reached out to several sources in the New Mexico firefighting community, including fire chiefs, who were not aware of the litigation, but very interested in finding out more.

The New Mexico legislature appropriates tens of millions of dollars almost every year to assist communities in updating their fire response equipment, and some legislative personnel have confirmed what the litigation reveals, that the price of new fire trucks has risen substantially, putting a heavier burden on local and state budget making.

The Candle will contact other New Mexico officials early next week asking if the state, or any cities or counties are considering joining the growing chorus of communities that have already filed lawsuits.

Below are PDFs of three of the original complaints filed by the City of Augusta, Maine, Los Angeles County, California, and City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

City of Augusta, Maine Original Complaint:

Los Angeles County, California Original Complaint:

City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Original Complaint: