(© FlaglerLive)
Palm Coast Fire Capt. James Neuenfeldt and Driver-Engineer Mark Davidson drove it in from Ocala, where it was built by E-One, Wednesday evening. It made it to Station 25 off Belle Terre Parkway around 6:30 p.m. Some firefighters on their day off came in to check it out.
It’s an impressive sight, even for those, like most of us, who don’t know the first thing about fire engines: Ladder-25 is a $980,000 truck, plus some $40,000 for additional hardware such as mounting brackets and other items. At 70,000 pounds, or 35 tons, the 42-foot-long truck gets about 3.2 miles per gallon, carries 500 gallons of water–enough to put out a one-room fire or a car fire at 125 gallons a minute without hooking into a hydrant–and has a ladder that extends 100 feet, with a water cannon that can fire up to 1,250 gallons a minute, though the truck as a whole can flow 2,000 gallons a minute.
The ladder is the same length as the ladder on the $1 million Sutphen SPH 100 tower truck that arrived in 2010, and that now operates out of the north end of town. (The effective length of the ladder is closer to 75 feet though, once truck-positioning and angles are taken into account.)
The new truck also shines in subtle but especially practical ways for the firefighters’ safety: oxygen tanks, whose soot can over time be a carcinogenic presence, are no longer kept in the cab of the truck but have their own storage slide on the truck’s side. Loud horns that used to be closer to the top of the cab, hurting firefighters’ hearing, have been lowered to bumper level.
Inside, all firefighters will have noise-canceling headphones through which they may also communicate with each other, further reducing the stress of what can become a very noise environment. On the side controls–those controls that are the dream of every young child and still dazzle a few firefighters–a raised platform slides out, requiring the firefighter operating the control to do so only above ground, thus avoiding the possibility of electrocution from overhead powerlines. All the lights aboard are now LED, hugely reducing energy demands on the truck’s alternator or the need for what would have been a 10,000-watt generator aboard. Smaller, portable generators are enough.
Firefighters will be trained in early March, including training on aerial operations by E-One. As soon as that’s completed, the truck will be in fulls service.
“We’re blessed to have a city council that would invest this piece of equipment into the city,” the captain said. “It’s safer, it’s more reliable, and it allows us to get tools to the job in a better way.”
Neuenfeldt’s team built the new truck through E-One from the ground up, looking at best practices, what firefighters need and don’t need, while staying within budget. The new, diesel-operated truck is one of 11 major engines or tower trucks in the Palm Coast Fire Department’s fleet, not counting four trucks used to fight forest or brush fires. Each of the city’s five stations has a front-line engine, with four engines in reserve plus the two tower trucks. Palm Coast’s acquisition Wednesday ranks as the second-most substantial in the fleet. Two firefighters will be on the ladder truck. Three are on an engine.
“A ladder truck specializes in elevated waterway, so we’re able to get atop high-rise structures and bring the water at an elevated height with us,” Neuenfeldt said. “It also helps us rescue folks that are in multi-story buildings or some place like we had to use our ladder truck to help somebody trapped in a tree, so any sort of elevated rescue is what these trucks specialize in. They go to all structure fires, and the guys are all trained firefighters, EMTs and paramedics that are on it, but they have a specific job function. Typically a ladder truck company specializes in rescues, not so much in putting water on a fire, but all the operations that go along with that.”
The Palm Coast Fire Department doesn’t see the new truck as exclusively a Palm Coast truck. “I’ve been working with Joe King and Bobby Pace a lot in the past year,” Palm Coast Fire Chief Jerry Forte said of his colleagues, Flagler County Fire Rescue Chief King and Flagler Beach Fire Chief Pace. “With the county putting an ambulance at Station 24 [at Palm Harbor], helping us with response, we agreed to put a ladder truck with a full-time staff that will respond anywhere in the county for any kind of elevated stream or truck company operation. This way the county doesn’t have to go out and buy another ladder truck for Station 21. There’s one tower at the north end of Palm Coast. This one will cover everything west and south.”
Palm Coast’s $1 million expense essentially amounts to a $1 million saving for the county. “I can’t see them having to spend $1 million having to buy a fire truck for the north end when we’ve got a tower truck there ready to go,” Forte said. The city is paying for its fire engines through a fleet-replacement fund the council established many years ago, so that whenever the department needs to buy a new truck, the money is there. It’s built into the budget, so taxes are not usually impacted, though obviously the city council ultimately approves each purchase.
By October, with the addition of two more city firefighters–for a total of 63 department-wide–the department will be able to operate the new ladder truck 24 hours, seven days a week, “ensuring that this ladder truck will be accessible anywhere in the county,” Forte said.
The old Ladder-25, bought in 2005, went out of service and was sold last year after logging over 120,000 miles and 12,000 hours on its motor. Its life had stretched past its cost-effectiveness. “The year before we ended up spending $110,000 in engine, transmission repairs, hydraulic system, and the recommendation from our fleet division basically said we can’t keep putting more money into this, because the value of the truck was not the $680,000, which is what the Town Center DRI purchased it for,” (The Town Center Development of Regional Impact, or enterprise zone, a subset of the city’s government, has its separate budget drawn from tax revenue generated by Town Center.)
The Palm Coast Fire Department has a $10 million budget. Today 47 of its firefighters are trained paramedics as well. Within 10 years, Forte expects all firefighters to be paramedics. Most can drive every truck, which takes special skills when it comes to a 42-foot-long piece of machinery with almost a quarter of its bulk extending past its rear wheels. But safety is a premium with the department. You won’t see Palm Coast fire trucks exceeding the speed limit to get to calls, no matter what.
“Here’s the difference between us and a lot of places,” Forte said. First, a system controls traffic lights, turning them green on the approach of fire trucks. “We also put out a directive four years ago that basically says we will not speed to any call at all. We won’t go over the speed limit, period, end of story, because we won’t want to put our drivers in a situation they have toi explain of why they went 46 in a 45 and had an accident. It’s difficult enough to do the job, but to put ourselves under the pressure of speeding some place, whether the state says they can go faster than the speed limit or not is irrelevant. Taking the pressure off of the crews to get there safely and then not saving that much time going fast. They understand getting to a call with due regard is important, but getting there in one piece is more important.”
Between that and the sheriff’s very conservative approach to vehicle chases, the city’s streets are expected to be kept safe with, and from, its public-safety vehicles.
A couple of years ago Forte had his firehouses all come up with identities of their own–nicknames and logos for the houses. Station 21 is “The Heart of the City,” Station 22 is “Double Duce,” Station 25 is “The Big House,” its mascot, drawn by a firefighter, a fierce-looking gator rimmed in barbed wire and somewhat oddly prying out what looks suspiciously like jail bars.
Forte looked at the ladder truck admiringly this afternoon as it sat in its hangar at Station 25. But he was not about to drive it. He’s had his decades of driving fire trucks. “I’m good,” he said. “This is theirs, and we worked with them to get it. I don;t want to take anything away from the crews. This is their resource, their equipment, their life-saving truck. I just have the satisfaction of watching them take care of it. Not to say I wasn’t the nervous dad waiting for that truck to drive from Ocala to here. I certainly was. But to see the appreciation with the crews, they looked it over yesterday, we were looking it over this morning. They really want to do good work with this thing. It’s their product.”
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WILLIAM NELSON says
What a Beautiful addition to our ‘GREAT PALM COAST’ fire department. At 3.2 miles p/g, I hope they don’t use it for their daily “lunch supply” runs. Congratulations PALM COAST.
F_McL says
Nice to see how the city is spending money on a fire truck that is not really needed. I just don’t see what added benefits a single fire truck will provide. The money would’ve been much better spent by helping residents who lost their jobs due to COVID-19. Just saying…
PeachesMcGee says
Money for fire equipment:
“The city is paying for its fire engines through a fleet-replacement fund the council established many years ago, so that whenever the department needs to buy a new truck, the money is there. It’s built into the budget, so taxes are not usually impacted”
The Wonderful Oz says
Nonsense. Just because it has been budgeted doesn’t mean they have to spend it. Why not put the money aside for the time being? What if we were actually able to lower taxes for a change? Our politicians all say they want to cut taxes, but then they spend money like it is going out of style. Someone needs to contact the lollipop guild and tell them to come get their leader.
blondee says
@F_McL I truly hope your house doesn’t start on fire someday
Brian says
Very cool – congratulations to the Palm Coast firefighters and first responders on this addition to your fleet. Now let’s just sit back and watch the flurry from the Negative Nellies who love to moan and carp about just about anything on this site.
John Stove says
Lets hope that the Department properly triages the runs and doesn’t end up sending the ladder truck to BLS (Basic Life Support) runs….this is how you rack up the miles…send large apparatus to calls that should be answered by a squad vehicle . Typically the response is “yeah but we need more firefighters on scene”…..that is fine but you dont need to transport them on a ladder truck.
Many Fire Departments long ago switched to dispatching smaller, more fuel efficient and cheaper to replace rescue trucks which can do both BLS and ALS (Advanced Life Support)…..
Concerned Citizen says
As a retired Lt.FF/EMT
I completly agree. I have never seen calls handled the way they do here. I listen to and see calls for a lift assist and the whole fire dept rolls. Or the SO calls for assist on an MVA with no fire and non serious accident and the ladder truck responds.
Lunch runs could be handled in one of the many pick up trucks I see floating around. Non emergency Medical could be handled by smaller “jump trucks”. Lot’s of ways to improve efficiency.
TASC says
The City had smaller trucks to do just that in 2006. They never staffed them properly and they ended up giving them away or repurposed them choosing again to run the “Big Red Trucks”.
carol says
YAY!!! Now the fire department has a new vehicle to take on their lunch breaks to McDonalds!!!
David Schaefer says
I think it is a good investment considering over 80% of flagler county calls are for medical and auto accidents. This ladder has the most updated equipment that I feel is needed in the year 2021. As a former FF I personally would have loved to have this at a station up north.
Water Ranger says
Nice Truck…… Next the city needs an armor plated Marine Boat with 6 – 200HP Yamaha’s for those weekend ticketing parties on the intra-coastal. It really has become a “Drunks Water Bar” out there. No speed limit signs work on the water…Its Balls to the Walls when the weekend water warriors are out . Its worse then I-4 corridor during Rush Hour in Orlando.
Skibum says
Some of the negative comments regarding the new ladder truck that Palm Coast just received are ignorant, and frankly, embarrassing, and do a disservice to the difficult and dangerous work that our firefighters do every day here in our city on behalf of the public – even those who want to complain about our great fire department. I have nothing but respect and admiration for our firefighters and the other first responders who are at our beck and call 24-hours a day. I say congratulations to the fire department for obtaining another piece of needed equipment that will help save lives. I want the best for our fire department, because for the hard work they do on our behalf, they DESERVE it!
Clarifying Commenter says
I dont think the citizens of Palm Coast understand that they DO NOT get charged for any care provided by Palm Coast Fire Department. If you are transported via ambulance by Flagler County Fire Rescue, that is a different story. And in response to the “lunch breaks” comments provided by various people. There isn’t a lunch break given. Regardless if there is 3 calls per 24 hr shift or 20 calls per 24 hr shift, these firefighters are still getting paid the same and are required to respond even if they had just finished cooking a full meal at the station. Because the population of Palm Coast is constantly growing, call volume is also constantly growing. This means that there are somedays where these firefighters don’t stop all day and because they are human just like us, they need to eat too and they stop at the store to grab something really quick. In my opinion this is a great investment as it makes the entire county and city safer by allowing a specialized unit to be easily accessible whenever minutes may determine whether someone lives or dies, and that someone could be a loved one, parent, child, etc.
Shark says
Now they have something to park at our 5 million dollar water park!!!!
Jf says
Are you kidding me? This is the biggest BS deal I have ever seen. You already have 1-2 tower trucks. What a waste of money. Tell me the last time a ladder truck was needed?
huh? says
the fire department has a 10 million dollar budget but law enforcement is at or less than 5 mil? how is that…..
compaqrat2020 says
Because Mustang GT’s that sit on the side of the road to do radar and read license plates and gather behind stores don’t cost as much.
Irwin M. Fletcher says
I love the variety of comments. Those who are in the know, some who think they know and those who obviously don’t know. The article states that this new truck replaces one that was no longer viable and was removed from service. Seems like a one for one swap, pretty straight forward actually. Equipment gets old and it gets replaced, that’s the way the world works. It’s a sharp looking truck because it’s new but at the end of the day it is a tool built to serve us. I gladly pay my taxes hoping to never need that beast at my house. To all the curmudgeons, and social media swamis and tough guys; your comments are entertaining but really have no value, but you already know that.
Unincorporated says
We live right outside the Palm Coast city limits, but they respond to us. Thanks for more free stuff Palm Coasters!
mark101 says
I really don’t care what kind of mileage it gets or how much it cost, as if this firetruck saves a residents home or business and saves lives, its well worth the expense.
TASC says
Good luck with your new ladder may it serve the City for many years to come. Congrats!
TR says
I thanks the firefighters for the services they provide. However one service is they will come to someones house (when called) and change the batteries in your smoke detectors. This was the case the other day with my neighbor. A firetruck pulled up and three fire fighters got out and went in the house to change the battery in a smoke detector that was beeping. I would think that that was major over kill and a fire van and one fire fighter would have been better and not waste that money. But not surprising because the city loves wasting money.
EJ says
Maybe as a good neighbor, you should have changed the battery for them. That way no firefighters would have had to go. Just a thought. I would imagine that there is not a staffed van that waits for people to call to have their smoke detector batteries changed. I could be wrong, but to me that would be a waste of money.
TR says
I am a very good neighbor thank you very much. I would have been glad to change the batteries, but she didn’t ask. I told her to let me know next time it needs to be done. I have done plenty of stuff for my neighbors as long as they ask. I can’t read their minds and guess when they need something done. I didn’t say have a staff person waiting around to change out batteries. What I wanted people to realize that it would have been a more effective means (cost wise) for one fire fighter and a smaller vehicle to come change out the batteries and not a fire truck and three fire fighters.