Another rung up the ladder for East Manatee Fire Rescue

Derrick Toney, a battalion chief for East Manatee Fire Rescue, went to Appleton, Wisc., in April to test drive Station 4's new aerial truck.

As he and four other New Truck Committee members were road testing the Pierce Manufacturing vehicle, they were passing Lambeau Field in Green Bay. They had an idea.

What a great place to test the truck's extension ladder, which reaches 107 feet.

The crew pulled over and sent the ladder skyward, up along the side of the stadium. Some of the Packers administrative personnel came out to see if something was wrong.

Toney informed them it was just a test, and a good one at that.

"In terms of general performance, the truck performed flawlessly," Toney said. "It has exceeded our expectations."

The new truck, No. 649, arrived at Station 4 at 9136 Town Center Parkway, Lakewood Ranch, on May 1. It was an important purchase — $956,736 — as buildings in Lakewood Ranch, such as the condos surrounding Lake Uihlein, go skyward.

The old ladder truck, which already has been sold, had a ladder that reached 75 feet. It was purchased in 2001 and had more than 120,000 miles on it, plus countless hours of pumping when it wasn't rolling down the highway.

"If you can get 10 years out of a truck, and five years in reserve, you are doing well," Toney said.

East Manatee Fire Rescue has 12 fire trucks.

Toney and his committee helped custom design the new truck with their needs in Lakewood Ranch in mind. Although Station 1 at 3220 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., has a ladder truck that reaches 100 feet, they wanted a truck at Station 4 that was closer to Main Street and new condos.

"This truck is compact," said Lee Whitehurst, the chief of East Manatee Fire Rescue. "Our other aerial truck has two axels and it can shoot two streams of water. This one is single axel and shoots one stream. We had that need for our truck to reach the roof of six- and seven-story buildings, but this is small and compact enough to run regular calls."

The new truck also does not have a bucket that a firefighter can use to get to the top of the ladder like the bigger version at the main firehouse.

Being versatile is important to a department that must buy a new truck every year.

"Our board takes spending the taxpayers money seriously," Whitehurst said. "I need to have my ducks in a row."

Whitehurst also wanted to make sure such an expensive purchase made sense for the area, so instead of picking a truck himself, he put Toney, the department's maintenance chief, in charge of the committee, and then added four firefighters who work on the trucks.

"We wanted more users' input," Whitehurst said. "I'm not the kind of chief who brings in a truck and says, 'Here you go.'"

The new aerial truck should go into service June 1 as East Manatee's 66 firefighters will all train on the vehicle in May. 

"Technically, this truck has new generation hydraulics," Toney said. "It's smoother to operate and it responds quicker to inputs. The pump has automatic presets. It drives as much like a (regular engine truck) as any aerial truck I've ever seen. The turning radius is unbelievable. If the check engine light goes on, it will send me a text message so I can check it out."

The new truck has two compartments dedicated to storing firefighters clothing or equipment contaminated at a fire scene. "Sixty-eight percent of all firefighters get cancer and the average population is at 23%," Whitehurst said. "There are 500 known carcinogens produced in a fire. The stuff in a burning building, none of it is natural. We've been using an aggressive cleaning program for a year, like Hazmat."

East Manatee did its due diligence before buying the truck. West Manatee Fire Rescue purchased a similar truck three years ago and Toney and Whitehurst took notice.

"We try not to be the first ones to jump out and get something new," Whitehurst said.

Eventually, they thought the truck was perfect for their needs.

Will it save lives?

"Yeah," Whitehurst said. "Maybe even our own."