New TDA for Evanston Truck 23. Evanston FD photo
Excerpts from EvanstonNow.com:
Evanston fire officials dedicated the city’s new Truck 23, a Pierce tractor-drawn aerial that replaces a similar unit now 23 years old.
Fire Chief Greg Klaiber said the new truck, based at Fire Station 3 at 1105 Central St., will assure three to five minute response times to fire calls for all parts of the city north of Church Street. The city’s other ladder truck, stationed at Fire Station 2 at 702 Madison St. and serving the south half of town, was replaced with a new model in 2011 after about 20 years of service.
Klaiber said the primary role of ladder truck crews is search and rescue efforts at fire scenes, and he said the well-organized equipment bays on the new vehicle will assure that firefighters can quickly find the equipment they need to whatever situations they may encounter.
Klaiber said planning to acquire the new truck started 18 months ago after an examination of the repair record of the old vehicle. He says 20 years is about the typical life for a ladder truck in fire departments across the country. Purchase of the new truck was approved last August.
The brief ceremony at Station 3 ended with Fire Chaplain David Jones annointing the St. Florian Cross logo on the truck cab with holy oil in the name of the patron saint of firefighters.
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
The city’s new $1.1 million aerial ladder truck was placed in service on Monday but the preparations which brought it to that point began long before.
The process started with Klaiber meeting with Lonnie Jeschke, the city’s fleet services manager, who has since retired, going over maintenance and repair records of the previous truck and then putting together a plan making the case for a replacement. Jeschke, recently retired Division Chief Tom Janetske, Shift Chief Bill Muno and Management Analyst Mike Whalen served on the group, determining the right height, width, storage capacity of the new vehicle.
The tractor-drawn, 100-foot aerial ladder truck is steered from the front and back ends.
“Some of our streets, especially in winter are very difficult to get down,” Klaiber pointed out, “and a straight truck with all the equipment we carry, they may not be able to make those turns.”
For about the last month, firefighters have been working to get the new truck ready for service. Klaiber singled out Firefighter Michael Hasanov who did much of the carpentry work, custom fitting the truck’s cabinets.
The new truck replaces a 23-year-old 100-foot aerial ladder truck “so this is for the next generation of firefighters,” the chief said.
thanks Dan
