That’s because truss roofs, now commonplace in commercial construction, can abruptly collapse — with any firefighter standing on them — when fire reaches their supports, Fire Chief Scott Andrews says.
With the danger of that situation well in mind, the Clinton Volunteer Fire Department has begun the process of replacing the department’s 28-year-old ladder truck with a new machine equipped with the sanctuary of longer ladders, Andrews said.
Authorized by selectmen to solicit bids on a new machine, Andrews broadly estimates its cost at $820,000, with another $47,000 for equipment. The bids are being sought to establish the cost of the machine before town officials make a decision about its purchase.
The fire department’s current ladder truck — made by the Sutphen Co. of Ohio — carries ladders that are 85 feet long and provide 65 feet of horizontal reach. For the new rig, the department is specifying ladders 100 feet long but, more importantly, with 98 feet of horizontal reach.
While Clinton has few tall buildings, it does have an abundance of truss roofs, and the longer horizontal reach of the new ladders will allow firefighters to be suspended in a bucket above a fire, rather than climbing onto the roof itself, Andrews explained.
The added length also will be useful with the height of Clinton’s new houses, he noted.
But the principal need for a new machine is the decaying condition of the department’s mightiest firefighting device. "When (the ladder truck) comes out, you know there’s something seriously gone wrong," the fire chief said.
Nearly at the 30-year limit that is the national standard for the life span of a fire truck, the department’s Sutphen suffers from a host of maladies, including hydraulic problems and fractures in its bucket that have added to maintenance demands and cost, Andrews said.
"It’s showing its age. It’s seen its fires," he remarked.
Selectmen and the Board of Finance have authorized the use of $155,000 in surplus funds to replace the fire department’s 40 air packs, now 15 years old. The self-contained breathing apparatus is used by firefighters when confronted by smoke or chemicals, and Andrews says, "We can’t fight fires without them."
The purchase had been planned for 2003, but Andrews said the town will save $32,000 by buying them before a Jan. 1 price increase. |
