Fire department eyes new ladder truck

By LAURA BEHENNA

Bigfork Eagle

The Bigfork Fire Department needs a new fire ladder that reaches three times as high as its current ladders, fire chief Chuck Harris said.

The department's ladder trucks just don't reach high enough to fight fires in buildings two stories and higher, such as those found downtown or at Marina Cay and Eagle Bend, Harris said.

"With our current laddering system, we can't get on the roof, not to mention the third story, with these 35-foot ladders," he said.

The fire department is looking at trading in one of its firetrucks for a new one with a 105-foot ladder, he said. The department tried out a demonstration model ladder truck this spring and concluded it needs a ladder of that length to meet Bigfork's growing needs.

The long ladder would be necessary to rescue people standing on a roof, Harris said. A long ladder would be safer for firefighters too, because the ladder could reach a burning structure while keeping the firetruck a safe distance away from the building in case it collapsed.

One or two firefighters and a member of the fire department's board of trustees will travel to a firetruck factory in Omaha, Neb., July 22-24 to investigate more truck models and narrow down what the department needs in a custom-built truck, Harris said.

"They'll build a truck to exactly what you want — length, engine, compartments, equipment — right down to the last seatbelt," he said.

The fire department has other needs for improving its services to the growing community, he went on. The firefighters would be grateful to get new air bottles, or "self-contained breathing apparatus" as they're known in the fire business. The air bottles the department has now are "big, bulky and heavy," but "they actually work OK," Harris said. Up-to-date air bottles weigh a third of what the older ones weigh and contain 40 to 50 minutes worth of air, compared with the old models' 20 minutes.

"When you're working, that weight makes a big difference," Harris said. "If you could cut 10 pounds off that in an air bottle, that makes a difference."

But because the old air bottles still work, new models would have to be purchased outside of the department's normal operating budget — money that's not currently available, Harris explained.

Another major need is a two-story training building with a roof and balcony for training firefighters how to enter burning buildings and rescue people, especially those on upper floors and roofs, he said. Occasionally someone donates an old house to burn down for training exercises, but the department really needs a permanent structure it can use whenever new firefighters need to be trained.

As Bigfork grows, the fire department feels increasing pressure to find a piece of property and build a bigger facility that will be open 24 hours and run by paid, professional staff. The price of land is a huge barrier, though, and prices will rise much higher in the five to 10 years Harris expects the department will need to prepare for such a big step.

The fire department will start its summer volunteer recruitment drive this month, he said. Twenty-eight men and women are volunteering their time now, but they have commitments that prevent everyone from showing up when called. Because most have day jobs, "when we get a page in the middle of the day, it's difficult to get six or eight people" to go out on a call, Harris said.

Also, some volunteers move away each year and the force becomes smaller, so more must be recruited every summer. Last summer a readerboard facing Highway 35 brought in more new volunteers than any other recruitment effort, and Harris plans to use that strategy again.

"We do have good equipment in terms of our trucks and apparatus," Harris said. "They belong to the public — come and look at them."