New ladder truck delivered to fire department

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

City fire crews are training on the department’s new 95-foot ladder truck, which arrived Monday.

Fire Chief John J. O’Neill Jr. said he hopes the new truck will go into service sometime next week. It will be placed in the Indianola Avenue fire station.

O’Neill said the new truck cost about $890,000.

The chief said he wants all firefighters to be familiar with the vehicle, and they have been training on it at the main fire station all week.

The new truck replaces a 1991 model that had a water pump that was faulty and had safety concerns. The department will be trying to sell the older truck, O’Neill said.

The new truck now gives the department three ladder trucks. There also is a 95-foot ladder at the main fire station and a 75-foot ladder at the Belle Vista Avenue fire station, the chief said.

The ladder truck being replaced was stationed at the Indianola Avenue station.

The department also has submitted paperwork to receive grants to buy two new pumper trucks, O’Neill said. He said if those requests are approved, they would replace current pumper trucks that will then be moved to the department’s reserve vehicle fleet.

The department has three reserve trucks: one at the downtown station, one at the new station on East Midlothian Boulevard and one at the Belle Vista station. The model year for those trucks is 1987, O’Neill said.

If the grant is approved, and the department can buy those new trucks, then two of the reserve trucks will be sold, O’Neill added.

The chief said the department has replaced every piece of front-line trucks within the last 15 years.