A first-of-its-kind fire truck for the Town of Gravenhurst’s fire department will soon be stationed in the fire hall’s garage.
In November 2020, Gravenhurst council approved a budget of $2 million for the truck. In Aug. 2021, Fire Chief Jared Cayley updated council on the status of the new build. The truck will replace the 2001 model that Fire Chief Jared Cayley said in a report to council was at the end of its 20-year lifespan.
Cayley says this will be the first time the Gravenhurst department has an aerial truck.
“This is not an ordinary fire apparatus,” he goes on to say. Cayley explains the “aerial” is a 100 foot, extendable ladder that sits on top of the truck.
Cayley credits the town’s former Fire Chief Larry Brassard with first petitioning council to allow them to purchase the truck.
In the past few months, he says they’ve been forced to call in the Bracebridge Fire Department to bring in their aerial truck. Now, having one of their own, Cayley says it will be an “incredible asset” to the department.
“While this will make our job safer and increase our service capacity to our community, it can be very risky if we don’t have our people trained to work it efficiently,” he adds.
The department’s Training Officer is currently working on a plan, according to Cayley, that will start before the truck is due to arrive in April.
He says he wants everyone to be trained as quickly as possible so the truck can be put to use as soon as possible