SV Fire District signs deal for Santa Cruz ladder truck

Monday, December 3, 2007

SV Fire District signs deal for Santa Cruz ladder truck

Firefighter-Paramedics Luke Duncan (in cab) and Carl Steinmetz inspect the Scotts Valley Fire Protection District’s new wildland fire engine. Credit: Lucjan Szewczyk/Press-Banner
Original article: Press Banner

Expecting construction of more multistory buildings, the Scotts Valley Fire Protection District has worked out a deal to bring an aerial ladder truck from Santa Cruz on initial fire response when needed.

The Scotts Valley district’s 27-year-old Van Pelt Telesquirt has only a 55-foot ladder, too short for use above three stories.

It would cost more than $600,000 to replace it with a 100-foot-ladder truck, fire Chief Mike McMurry reported to district directors, and the truck wouldn’t be needed very often.

As an alternative, directors agreed on an arrangement under, which Santa Cruz will provide a ladder truck in exchange for Scotts Valley responding to Santa Cruz wildland fires with a wildland engine and water tender.

Santa Cruz Fire Chief Ron Oliver had already agreed to the swap. Santa Cruz would dispatch its 1994 Sutphen with a 104-foot ladder to calls — or a reserve 75-foot ladder truck if the Sutphen is in the shop.
“It’s our hope that this will handle any building in the district,” McMurry said.

Another alternative under consideration earlier included purchase of a “quint,” which serves as a ladder truck and a fire engine, but would not fit on some roads in the district.

No comments:

How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Monday, December 3, 2007