The Brownwood Fire Department took delivery of their newest vehicle Monday afternoon, a shiny red and black 2013 Ferrara 100’ ladder truck.
Brownwood Fire Chief Del Albright took a look over the truck with Randy Franks of Ferrara Fire Apparatus Sales and was quite pleased to have the new truck as an addition to the BFD fleet. The red and black paint is a new design that BFD has adopted. The black stripes on the sides of the truck are actually reflective, appearing silver when light hits them.
Receiving the truck is like an early Christmas present for the department. The 83,000 pound truck is equipped with a 500 horse Cummins diesel engine, a 100’ ladder with platform and dual nozzles capable of 2000 gallons per minute expulsion, back up and side cameras, wireless headsets for communications during loud emergency situations, and many more “bells and whistles.” The truck, pictured above, meets all of the newest standards of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), according to BFD Driver Matt Campbell.
The truck is estimated to have a life of approximately 15-20 years for a city like Brownwood with moderate weather conditions. The life span according to Campbell is measured according to hours of operation and maintenance. The truck has 12,000 miles as it was a demo; however, the manufacturer has reset all of the warranties as if new, according to Campbell.
The truck will be housed at the new fire station when it is completed. It does fit in the old Central Fire Station. As many have questioned, the new ladder truck does fit through the Vine Street underpass. In fact, BrownwoodNews was invited along for a test drive and experienced the ride through the underpass first hand. Driver Matt Campbell made it through without a scratch and with what seemed to be with ease. Campbell explained that the ladder on the new truck collapses nearly flush with the vehicle, making it able to easily maneuver through the underpass, unlike some other bucket type trucks that have actually gotten stuck within the confines of the underpass structure.
This is one of two of the trucks that the apparatus committee and Chief Albright liked when they first considered the options of repairing the Quint or replacing it with a newer truck. The 17-year-old Quint has approximately $45,000 of needed repairs and had become unreliable and costly to keep in service, according to city officials It was damaged recently while responding to an accident scene when an 18-wheeler struck the back passenger corner of the ladder truck as it turned a corner where the Quint was parked.
“This is one of the trucks that we would choose for the department and it just so happened when we got that little bump to the Quint, it sped things along,” said Albright.
“The apparatus committee did a good job and we added on a few things. The paint color, and added a few other things, which didn’t really change the price very much at all. It is all very good,” said Albright. “Now it is built to our specs that we wanted to have for the city. It’s a good acquisition.”
“Very good,” agreed Campbell. “Considering the circumstances being as it were, it was a rough time loosing the other one but having this one still available was great.”
Albright further explained, “It was unfortunate the way it had to happen, but it is good timing, absolutely. Not having an operational ladder truck was worrisome. I’m glad nothing happened where we needed a ladder.”
The newer truck had actually been brought to Brownwood for consideration about a year ago when the Quint was getting repaired previously. The department had no idea it would be a possibility, but looked into the vehicle, and had to consider if it would fit in the bays of the Central Fire Station.
Albright explained that he has been asked many times if a city such as Brownwood needs a large ladder truck. “It does. A ladder truck is useful on all sizes of buildings, but especially with hotels and industry, and larger structures, like the train museum. Anything we need to get water on top of without getting our firefighters in there, it’s useful. They just can’t carry enough water that this one will put out,” said Albright. “It gives firefighters more options. We have used the Quint on smaller houses, raised the ladder to put water on fires from above, where you can actually see the fire better. Having the platform (on the new truck) makes it safer for firefighters to perform certain maneuvers, rescues and even ventilation through roofs, giving them a steady platform to work off of rather than an unsteady roof. So it is versatile.”
The new truck has the ability to reach to approximately the 6th or 7th floor of a building, depending on how close the truck can get to the structure, when everything is optimal, said Albright. Campbell explained that the 100 feet can be reached when the ladder is extended to a vertically 70° angle. Being able to reach not only up but also out is the “bread and butter” of the apparatus, according to Campbell.
Each shift of firefighters will go through training on how to operate the systems of the truck December 15-18. The truck will officially be put into operation after the training is completed; however, there are some firefighters that know how to operate the ladder and other equipment on the truck, so in a pinch, if the truck was needed it would be put into action, according to Albright.
The new truck was purchased for approximately $970,000 and is being financed through a 7-year capital lease with Citizen’s National Bank which was approved at Tuesday’s meeting of the Brownwood City Council. Three quarterly payments totaling $112,000 would be made during the current fiscal year with funds provided by the Brown County Water Improvement District buy-in, which totaled $822,087. (The Cities of Early and Zephyr became official water customers of BCWID in August after paying a “buy-in” lump-sum amount based on a share of the bond payments already made by current BCWID customers. This “buy-in” payment was reimbursed to current customers Brownwood, Brookesmith and Bangs.) There will be 6 ¼ years of payments remaining in future years with annual payments of approximately $150,000, which would be included in future years’ budgets.
Campbell stated that to have the ladder truck built new to this truck’s specifications would currently cost close to $1.3 million. “It’s quite the truck for what we have and considering what we paid for it,” said Campbell.
Pictured are Ferrara Texas Apparatus Sales Representative Randy Franks, Chief Del Albright, Assistant Chief Grady Shuey, and Driver Matt Campbell.
Albright and Campbell check communications equipment.
Assistant Chief Shuey shows his granddaughters Danica (10) and Ashlee (5) the new truck.
The 100′ ladder is fully extended to show the height it can reach.
Chief Albright goes over the truck with Ferrara Sales Representative Randy Franks.
