The Tinley Park Fire Department (IL) has received a new ladder truck purchased from Pierce Manufacturing, an Appleton (WI) company for over $800,000 last summer.
The truck arrived in Tinley Park May 2, officials said, and was parked outside Village Hall before the May 7 board meeting. Tinley Park has purchased from Pierce before.
The new ladder truck is equipped with a 100-foot aerial ladder. In effect, the truck will be replacing two vehicles: A 1975 ladder truck and a 1994 pumper that had been converted into a squad vehicle used to store the department’s rescue equipment.
The ladder truck will be able to carry the village’s rescue equipment and has the capability to squirt from the ladder down to the fire.
Due to its advanced years, the old ladder truck did not meet current standards and was difficult to maintain due to the fact that replacement parts were not available. It also had inadequate seating, the aerial ladder had locking problems and there were other unsafe features to it, as detailed in the May memo by Assistant Chief Stephen Klotz.
The ladder truck cost $880,000, but the village saved $30,000 on the purchase by pre-paying the full cost. Ultimately, it cost $849,800, or $424,900 to the village and the same amount for the Fire Department Association.
Tinley Park has sold the 1994 squad to Chicago Heights for $50,000, according to Village Manager Scott Niehaus.
With the new purchase, Tinley Park has three ladder trucks. Dunn expects to need another one sometime in the next ten years as a replacement for one of his older models.
The truck has yet to be put into service by the fire department, as the village is still training its firefighters on how to drive it and set it up. Officials anticipate putting it into service in the middle of June.
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