The Gravenhurst Fire Department was excited to hear that they would be able to go through with the purchase of the new truck. Interim Fire Chief, Brad Bigrigg, says the purchase of the new truck will help when it comes to efficiency but he says, it’s also time to replace one of the trucks.
“There’s a 21-year-old pumper that needs to be replaced. There’s a competing need for an aerial device in the municipality just because of the infrastructure they currently have. The purpose of the aerial device, it’s two fold. It’s to extend vertical and horizontal reach. It’s also to eliminate the use of firefighters on ground ladders to a greater extent.”
He acknowledged that there aren’t many tall buildings in the town but says the new truck will come in handy due to the high amount of long horizontal buildings.
“They have large buildings here that will take advantage of the horizontal reach of the ladder, and it will eliminate putting firefighters on ground ladders to a greater extent. We’re trying to take advantage of technology by utilizing the few firefighters that we have available, and we’re also trying to get the equipment in service faster so it’s easier to raise the aerial device than having four firefighters carry a 35-foot ground extension ladder to the back of a building.”
The cost of the new fire truck is over $1.8 million dollars which isn’t out of the ordinary.
“In 2012 I was fire chief in the town of Caledon and the budget allocation for a brand new aerial device at that time was between $1.2 and $1.3 million. So in ten years, it’s gone up between $600,000-$700,000,” said Bigrigg.
Bigrigg went on to add that they can expect to receive the truck within the year of when the order is made.
On top of getting a new fire truck, the Gravenhurst Fire Department has also applied to receive a share of the $5 million dollar funding the provincial government is offering to the 441 departments in Ontario. Bigrigg said he hopes they can get $7,000 and if approved, they plan to use it for IT equipment to support firefighter training.