Fire department welcomes new ladder truck

PENHOLD - The Penhold Fire Department has its very first ladder truck.

“This is awesome for the Penhold Fire Department,” said Jim Pendergast, the department's fire chief. “It gives us much more capabilities in being able to control or extinguish structure fires, plus we can do all types of rescues.”

The truck, known as a quint, has a 78-foot ladder and is also a pumper, he noted, pointing out some of its features.

“It has an 8,000-litre-per-minute pump on it. It also can do Class A foam (combustible fires) and Class B foam (fuel and gasoline spill fires).”

The ladder truck cost the Town of Penhold about $300,000, although $460,000 was allocated in the budget for it, noted Pendergast. It was purchased in the United States and arrived from Alabama on Oct. 8.

They plan to sell Engine Two, which the ladder truck is replacing, said Pendergast.

The ladder can perform several functions, including extending both vertically and horizontally and turn 360 degrees.

“It can be a full ladder but it can also do rescue. It can hold 1,000 pounds and it also carries all the (ground) ladders that a ladder truck requires,” he said, adding there's 110 feet of ground ladders on the truck at any time, including 35-foot, 24-foot and 14-foot ladders.

“They can be used for rescue as well,” said Pendergast, noting the new ladder truck was demonstrated for Penhold council members at a council meeting on Oct. 11.

Mayor Dennis Cooper said he was pleased with the new ladder truck and that it will provide benefits for the community.

“It's a great piece of equipment,” said Cooper. “It gives us the ability to help address structure fires and the ability as a fire department having more equipment and being more prepared to help any of our neighbours.”

Pendergast said firefighters have trained for the new truck, which was officially ready for use late last week.

“It's available to our surrounding municipalities to assist them,” said Pendergast. “This is a big win for the Town of Penhold.”