By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com
A new 100-foot aerial ladder truck for the Joplin Fire Department paid for by public safety tax proceeds will cost nearly $200,000 less than budgeted.
Fire Chief Gary Trulson ordered the new truck after receiving authorization from the Joplin City Council last week.
Trulson said the truck will cost $814,926. An allocation of $1 million had been made for it with proceeds of the half-cent public safety tax voters approved in 2006.
The truck will be built by Pierce Manufacturing, of Appleton, Wis. One other company, E-One Inc., of Ocala, Fla., turned in a bid of $830,200. The trucks are built to order, Trulson said.
The truck will replace a 1986 model Grumman that served as a front-line ladder truck for about 20 years before maintenance issues caused the fire department to put it on reserve status.
Trulson said that the truck exceeded its expected service life of 15 years. Maintenance has become difficult, Trulson said.
“It has become hard to locate parts and they are expensive.”
The value of used trucks is low and the manufacturer is allowing the city $23,000 in trade-in value for the Grumman, the fire chief said.
It will take about eight months to build the new truck to Joplin’s specifications. The truck can carry 500 gallons of water and pump 1,500 gallons of water a minute. The body is constructed of aluminum, Trulson said.
The Joplin Fire Department has four ladder trucks now, three of them with 75-foot ladders that can reach up to five stories, depending on the construction of a building. But there are a number of buildings in the city that are tall enough to require a 100-foot ladder, Trulson said.
The new ladder truck will be assigned to the main station at 303 E. Third St. After it is received, one of the older, 75-foot trucks will be placed on reserve status, the fire chief said.
On the road
Joplin’s 100-foot ladder truck will be delivered by driving it to Joplin from the Wisconsin factory where it will be built.
