Firetruck is in

The new firetruck is here.

The City of Portland’s new $1.2-million Ladder Tower NXT firetruck arrived Tuesday.

While it is not considered fully in service yet, it would be available if the need arose.

“If we had a large fire now, downtown, we could take it out and use it and set it up, or if we had to do a rescue or something,” said Portland Fire Chief Mike Weitzel. “It is able to be used.”

Before it is fully in service, it has some final touches that need to be completed.

Display Craft is handling the lettering on the new truck. Local firefighters will install the hand tools and brackets for self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and switch the radios from the current truck to the new one. And the truck will need to return to Indianapolis for installation of a valve — it will allow for a secondary waterway — that has not come in yet.

Quint Specialists will provide training on the new truck during the first week of December.

The truck will then likely be put into service no later than the end of the year.

Weitzel said historically the goal was to replace the large firetrucks every 20 years, but the city had fallen behind on that timeline. (The previous ladder truck was purchased in 1995.) Replacement of that ladder truck has been considered since about 2015, but had been pushed back because of finances.

“We approached the situation when we got the engine the last time, in 2018, but we didn’t have enough money saved at that time to do the ladder truck,” Weitzel said.

This year, firefighters had been working toward getting new SCBAs. Their current air packs are decades old and do not meet current standards.

They had gone through most of the process and were almost to the point of purchasing the new equipment — including the cost of replacing the compressor, they were expected to come in at about $235,000 — when the city’s ladder truck experienced a mechanical issue in April.

“We had went through the process of doing all the research and got quotes and everything on that and were ready to pull the trigger on purchasing new air packs,” said Weitzle, “but that all changed when our ladder truck broke.

“We had that money set aside. That was what we were going to do, our next major purchase. But the truck took precedence over that.”

Indiana Code allows for municipalities to purchase such equipment without going through a regular bidding process in emergency situations. The truck being out of service fit that description.

Portland Fire Department looked at the Ladder Tower NXT at the Fire Department Instructors Conference in early August in Indianapolis and came to a tentative agreement. Details were worked out in the following weeks, with Portland Board of Works approving the purchase at a meeting Aug. 20. (The city paid $500,000 up front from its fire vehicle non-reverting fund and financed the rest through Indiana Bond Bank.)

Since then, several modifications were made to the new truck, including the addition of Stokes Basket — a device used to immobilize and transport victims.

The new truck has a longer ladder — 110 feet compared to the 75 feet for the current truck — and greater storage capacity, with the ability to pump 2,250 gallons per minute. It also has a variety of new safety features that were not available 26 years ago — for instance, the ladder will not extend if it’s over a tipping point — and can carry more firefighters and equipment.

“The biggest (improvement) is the extra 35 feet of reach that we have,” Weitzel said. “I know there’s a lot of people who say, ‘What do you need a 110-foot ladder in Portland for?’ It’s not so much the height of a 110-foot-tall building, it’s what our setbacks are.”

The courthouse, for example, he said is not 75 feet tall, but to reach the top with the previous ladder, the truck had to be on the sidewalk on the west side of the building.

“A few years ago, we had to rescue an injured person off one of the factories. We actually had to pull into the yard to be able to reach the top,” he added.

Weitzel said he’s hopeful the SBCA purchase that was put off this year can be made in late 2022 or early 2023.

As for trucks, the next one on the list for replacement is the tanker that is 21 years old. (The city also has a 13-year-old engine and an engine that was purchased in 2018.)

Weitzel noted that the tanker truck has not had any problems. He added that he has worked with Portland clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips to develop a permanent replacement plan for the fire department’s four vehicles, with a new one to be purchased every five years.

For now, though, he’s happy to have a fully functioning ladder truck available again.

“It’s definitely a relief because of the other truck being out of service and not having full function on it,” said Weitzel. “It wasn’t in rescue mode. If we had to rescue anybody, it would have been a touchy situation. It’s definitely a relief to have a truck that’s capable of doing that again.”