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In a traditional ceremony, the Lexington Fire Department last Thursday celebrated the arrival of a new aerial ladder truck that will bring the “latest cutting-edge technology” to the department’s 21st century firefighting efforts.
The new truck, called Tower 9 and the only tower truck in the area, replaces Truck 9, which was retired after serving the community for the last 25 years. The old truck’s final act was helping to wet down the new truck in the dedication ceremony. The old truck will remain at the fire department until it is sold through bidding.
The Buena Vista and Glasgow fire departments each have aerial trucks, but Tower 9 is the area’s only ladder tower, explained Lexington Fire Department Deputy Chief Trent Roberts.
A tower truck has a basket on the end of the ladder that people can stand in and work off of. A ladder or aerial truck has a ladder without the work platform. The previous LFD aerial truck was also a tower truck, but just not called a tower truck. The new name better reflects the capabilities of the truck, said Chief Ty Dickerson.
The purchase of the new truck comes after the LFD celebrated its 225th anniversary of service to the community last year.
With Lexington Mayor Frank Friedman and members of the Lexington City Council in attendance, members of the fire department explained the advantages of the new truck during the ceremony.
LFD firefighter Tom Capito, the master of ceremonies, opened the event with the comment that “The fire service relies strongly on professionalism and tradition.”
He said that Tower 9 brings many new features that will increase the department’s ability for “fast, safe and efficient” service.
One feature is all-steer driving, in which the rear wheels turn in coordination with the front wheels, enabling a much-improved ability to maneuver the truck throughout a small city like Lexington.
Another feature is that the truck is stabilized and level, Capito added. With Truck 9, it took several people to get the truck ready for service. Tower 9 can be prepared in just a few minutes by one trained firefighter, Capito said. “In a situation of a fire and an emergency, minutes – much less, seconds – can mean the difference between saving a structure and, even more importantly, saving lives,” said Capito.
The new truck weighs 76,640 pounds and has a 2023 Pierce Ascendant 100-foot heavy duty aerial tower. The truck is 11 feet high and 43 feet, 5 inches long. It has an Enforcer chassis and a Cummins X12-500 horsepower motor, and its tank size is 250 gallons. The truck can pump 2,000 gallons of water per minute, and it has a Harrison 6-kilowatt generator.
Capito concluded his remarks by thanking Friedman, members of the Lexington City Council, and all the public and private donors “for all they did to make this a reality.”
Following Capito’s comments, Pastor Horace Douty led the invocation, blessing the new truck, the firefighters and the community they serve.
Members of the LFD then led the public in wetting down the new truck, with several children and community members, including Lexington City Councilmember Marylin Alexander, taking turns to hose down the truck. Following the wetting down, the LFD staff and community members took part in the push-in ceremony for the new truck. “The push-in ceremony dates back to the 1800s when the fire apparatus was pulled by horses,” explained Capito.
The cost of Tower 9 was $1,728,918. Dickerson explained a breakdown of the fundraising for the new truck. “We are not an independent volunteer fire department,” said Dickerson. “We are a department of the city of Lexington ... As such the city buys and owns all of our equipment. They decide when and what they buy based on LFD recommendations using an apparatus replacement plan designed by a consultant almost 20 years ago.
“That being said, we did run a public fundraising campaign to supplement the city towards this specific vehicle. That raised about $10,000, but it also raised a lot of community awareness about the high cost of these type vehicles.”
In addition to the fundraising and taxpayers’ money coming in, Dickerson added, Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University both make annual contributions to the city toward all fire and Emergency Medical Services vehicles.
“The county makes annual payments to the city for some LFD vehicles under our joint agreement to provide fire and EMS service to county areas surrounding the city,” added Dickerson.
Jonathan Bowden, assistant fire marshal and chairman of the LFD Committee, went over the timeline for the new truck. In November 2021, the LFD was allowed to start the process of identifying the type of apparatus it needed. In January 2022, Lexington City Council approved the construction of the new truck. Construction started last summer, and inspection was completed this March.
Optimistic about the new truck, Bowden said, “As far as the community goes, the benefit that they’re going to get out of this new piece of apparatus is, there’s going to be faster, more efficient setup and response times and have the latest cutting-edge technology that’s available for suppression with aerial devices.”
