Lynnfield FD lands new ladder truck

LYNNFIELD – A new ladder truck has rolled on into the Lynnfield Fire Department, just mere weeks after residents approved its purchase at the town meeting on Oct. 20.”We had our eye on it prior to the Town Meeting,” said Fire Capt. Michael Feinberg, not wanting to have to wait until the annual meeting in April before replacing the existing truck that has been out of service.For a price tag of $750,000, the 2007 100-foot Seagrave aerial platform truck comes fully equipped with ground ladders. It features a 15-kilowatt hydraulic generator and a breathing air bucket that provides persons at the end of the ladder with a practically unlimited air supply.”To be honest, it’s quite a bargain,” said Feinberg. “To purchase the same vehicle brand new would have cost $900,000 to $1 million.”The truck arrived in Lynnfield with approximately 4,500 miles on it, but is otherwise considered brand new. A department in East Hartford, Conn. originally purchased the vehicle, performed some training on it, and then decided it didn’t meet their needs, said Feinberg.But, the shoe fit for Lynnfield.”We look for a vehicle or piece of apparatus that’s going to meet the particular needs of our community,” he said. “We’ve been running what’s called an aerial tower for the last 10 years, and that’s worked very well for us. We were looking for a similar type of vehicle.”The new ladder will replace the 37-year-old Mack Baker Aerial Scope. It was decertified at the beginning of the summer and taken out of service, said Feinberg. With that being the only ladder truck in town, Lynnfield borrowed a spare from Melrose, but that assistance was cut short when their primary vehicle had to go in for repairs.Feinberg said the decision to purchase the newer and larger apparatus comes in part with the various new construction projects taking place throughout the town. Feinberg said that several of those developments will take the form of four and five-story buildings.”We were looking for a longer reach,” he said, noting that the previous truck stretched to only 75 feet.Feinberg hopes to have the ladder truck up and running by the end of this year. He said it will take some time to install all the radios and other necessary equipment, but even more so to train his firefighters on how to operate it.”We’re not going to put it in service until everyone’s properly trained on its use,” he said.