By Rod Rose/The Lebanon Reporter
Lebanon
May 13, 2008 12:54 am
—
Not only is it broken: The Lebanon Fire Department’s aerial ladder truck is so old it should have been retired seven years ago.
By July, its replacement could be in service.
Monday the city ordered, contingent on financing, a $437,490 “quint” from Rosenbauer Fire Apparatus.
“It’s a pumper and an aerial all in one,” LFD Deputy Chief Jason Lee said.
A quint is basically a regular fire engine with a long ladder; in this case, a 75-foot-long tower with a remote-controlled nozzle, Lee said.
The city’s present aerial is a 1976 model bought used from the Pike Township Fire Department.
At some point, one of the “wear pads” on the aerial ladder broke, Lee said, literally “putting the ladder in a bind.”
While the ladder still works, it is twisted. Repairs would cost $25,000 to $50,000, with no guarantee the truck would pass a mandatory yearly inspection. Part of the inspection includes extending the ladder horizontally and hanging a half-ton weight from the end.
The Rosenbauer Aerial Firestar quint, to be built on a Spartan Fire Apparatus chassis by Roberson Fire & Safety of Indianapolis, will have a 400-gallon tank and be capable of spraying 1,000 gallons per minute from the nozzle. It will have a 25-year warranty.
Because it will be a “first-out” engine, or the first apparatus to respond to a fire, the city’s fire insurance rates could be lower, Fire Chief Ted Caldwell said.
Some equipment from the aerial, including several new ladders, hose lines and other items, will be used on the quint to lower the cost, Caldwell said.
The quint is more maneuverable than the aerial, he said. It can access every neighborhood in the city, and the tower will reach every building.
Financing options are being reviewed by the board of works.
Caldwell said federal regulations require a 15-year-old fire engine be rebuilt; a 25-year-old truck must be retired.
Roberson gave the city a $7,500 trade-in for the old aerial.
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