The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Painesville welcomes new aerial truck
Fire department receives new vehicle earlier than expected
The truck is designed to raise firefighters in order to perform rescues during fires and related issues.
Painesville city has announced the arrival of a new aerial ladder truck for the city’s fire department. Rather than engines that serve to put out fire exclusively, the aerial ladder truck is designed to raise firefighters to elevated heights in order to perform rescues during fires and related issues.
The Sutphen SPH 100 provides this added elevation through its 100-foot ladder and large bucket which has a 1,000-pound capacity.
Among the features of the new truck, which fits up to six firefighters, are a 360-degree camera, hydraulic/electric generator and LED scene lights. It can also pump over 1,500 gallons of water per minute to nozzles on either side of the ladder bucket.
The purchase came from a 2019 discovery that their older version, built in 1990, had severe corrosion issues. Because of the corrosion and other repair issues that were financially significant, council determined that retiring the existing truck and purchasing a newer model would be more cost effective.
A statement released by the city explained that the $1.3 million truck was acquired through collaboration with Painesville City Council, their finance department and the city’s five-year fire equipment levy.
Fire Chief Thomas Hummel explained that the company’s manufactured fire engines and trucks are popular enough that they had to claim theirs while it was still in production.
He added that the department received the truck much earlier than they had anticipated, but that this allows them a wider window for training.
After firefighters are satisfactorily trained, the truck will be sent to another company for installation of various apparatuses and related calibrations. Hummel expects the truck to be in service for the community by July.
“Just like when you buy a new vehicle and have to get used to it, so do firefighters with a new truck.” Hummel said. “It’s a very large vehicle, so we train extensively on it before we bring it to an actual emergency situation. We want to make sure all our firefighters are comfortable and familiar with the apparatus before they have to use it to save lives.”
The city states that once social distancing regulations related to the prevention of the spread of the novel coronavirus are lifted they plan on hosting an open house event for the community to get a glimpse of the department’s newest addition up close.