With Pump And Ladder, New Fire Truck Does It All

The Spokane Valley Fire District bought a new fire truck Monday that will help fight industrial fires.

The truck combines the functions of a ladder truck and a pumper truck.

“It’s really versatile,” said Karl Bold, assistant chief of operations for Valley Fire. “You’ll see a lot of other departments going to it.”

The new truck, which was built by Pierce in Appleton, Wis., cost $370,000. It will be in service by the middle of September.

The fire district’s radio system and other instruments must be installed on the truck, a battery of safety and acceptance tests must be run, and training provided to all firefighters before the truck can be placed in service.

Though the red and chrome truck won’t be racing through Valley streets for about a month, fire officials are already singing its praises.

The truck features a 65-foot extension ladder and a 500-gallon water tank. It is also equipped with a hose permanently mounted on the ladder that can be controlled by a joystick mounted on the back of the truck or at the top of the ladder.

The hose can rotate 360 degrees and be used any position up or down.

A standard ladder truck requires a pumper truck to serve as its water source and is limited in its coverage, Bold said.

Valley Fire bought a standard ladder truck with a 100-foot extension ladder in 1972. Its hose must be manually mounted on the ladder each time it is used.

That truck is at Station 1.

Valley Fire will do some shuffling of its trucks during the next month to make room for the truck.

The new truck will placed be at Station 5, near the Spokane Industrial Park and Kaiser Aluminum at Trentwood.

A pumper truck bought in 1982 and currently at Station 5 will become a reserve unit.

The existing reserve truck, purchased in 1970, will be sold.

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