By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Decatur’s new fire truck has arrived and could be in service by early July.
The $2.5 million aerial truck was purchased from the MacQueen Co., a Wisconsin dealer for Pierce fire trucks.
It is a stock truck, with a few miles on it due to some use for demonstrations and the like.
Fire Chief Jeff Sheets told city council at the time the purchase was being discussed that the stock truck would have all the specifications the city department needs and a few modifications could be made.
Those modifications were completed in approximately three months.
Going the conventional route would have required an expenditure of around $4 million for a new aerial truck which could not be delivered in less than four years.
Local firefighters will receive three days of training on the use of the truck, with June 15th through 17th scheduled, Sheets informed city council at its latest meeting.
“We hope to have it in service by the first part of July,” Sheets told WZBD.com.
The new truck measures 43 feet in length and is 11 feet, 4 inches high. It weighs in at 76,000 pounds.
It can take a firefighter 100 feet into the air.
The fire chief said the new aerial can be set up by one person in about one minute versus two to three minutes with three personnel for the current aerial.
“There are a lot of features on this aerial that our current one does not have,” Sheet said. “The rear wheels turn about four degrees to help with turning; the ladder can go below grade by the design of the aerial and different set up with out riggers.”
The new truck is replacing one which is approximately 29 years old.
SEE THE NEW ONE: The new fire truck will be on display along with other trucks, equipment and firefighters at the station each Friday morning in June.
The fire department annually holds its School’s Out Summer Youth Tours in June.
Hours are 8-11:30 a.m. each Friday. The station is located at 206 S. Seventh St.
“Meet our firemen, see our trucks, enjoy a treat,” the department said.
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