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New aerial truck coming for GFD in new year
After nearly 35 years of service, the City of Greencastle will be putting an old friend out to pasture.
The city’s 1986 model aerial tower truck is about to be replaced by a newer model. The city opened bids on the new 100-foot platform aerial truck recently at City Hall.
The lone bid came from Sutphen Fire Apparatus Corp., Dublin, Ohio, considered expert fire truck manufacturers since 1890. The bid came in at $1,265,832.
Fire Chief John Burgess, who had expected bids in the $1.5 million range, seemed pleased with the Sutphen submission.
“They’re the same company that’s doing the new fire engine (more on that later) for us right now, the fire chief said.
Burgess told the Greencastle Board of Public Works and Safety at its December meeting that he plans to take the aerial truck bid back to the committee that provided input into its design “to make sure everything we want on there is included.”
Plans are for the truck to be financed over several years. City Clerk-Treasurer Lynda Dunbar indicated city officials will look at several options to pay for the new truck, including such possibilities as TIF (Tax Increment Financing) funds from the Greencastle Redevelopment Commission, contributions from other entities such as Greencastle Township, and use of other accounts.
The aerial truck item was in the budget and the city was expecting something in the $1.3 million to $1.5 million range, it was noted.
That may seem like a lot of money, but the aerial fire truck has been a godsend for the Greencastle Fire Department in a number of fires since 1986.
It was the mid-1980s fire in the old Opera House on the west side of square that sparked interest and a fundraising groundswell in securing the tower truck that will likely be decommissioned next year. Use of an aerial truck from Crawfordsville kept the Opera House fire from getting into other buildings on the west side of the square.
The city’s tower truck has been a lifesaver several times over, including during the 2013 downtown blaze on West Washington Street, just a block off the square, and even assisting with controlling a similar fire in downtown Brazil.
“It’s served us well,” Chief Burgess assured the Board of Works.
Certainly DePauw University would echo that sentiment with the aerial truck being instrumental in fighting the April 7, 2002 fire that destroyed Rector Hall.
More importantly no loss of life occurred in that fire and not a single injury was reported to a DePauw student.
The aerial truck was deployed in such a manner that day that it helped keep the fire from leaping over onto the adjacent Lucy Rowland and Mason residence halls.
Burgess was asked what the department will do with the old truck when the new model arrives.
“We’ll probably sell it,” the chief responded. “There’s a number of small departments out there that would probably jump at a chance to get their hands on it.”
Meanwhile, Burgess reported that the department’s new pumper/rescue truck -- which the city had hoped might arrive in time for Christmas and possible use in bringing Santa to town -- will likely be delivered “within the next month.”
The chief made a visit to the Sutphen plant this fall to oversee some minor modifications that were made to the truck specifications.
Some shelving was deleted from the truck design to provide additional space on board, while other shelving was redesigned so firefighters wouldn’t have to be as tall as Burgess to grab things off the top shelf. And added to the contract was a provision for Sutphen to install all the radio antenna wiring instead of city firefighters trying to do it upon delivery.
Burgess also noted GFD has never had any difficulty working with Sutphen on repairs to the aerial truck. In fact, the Ohio firm even handmade parts for the old truck, the chief said.
Chief Burgess plans to return to the Ohio plant again to make a final review of the half-million-dollar pumper truck before Sutphen brings it to Greencastle.
“They’ll drive it back here and go over everything with our firefighters,” he said.
Meanwhile, in additional fire department news from the Board of Works meeting, Jacob Armstrong, who has been holding down a part-time position at GFD the past month, has been hired as a fulltime firefighter. Armstrong replaces Jeff Cox on the GFD roster. Cox has resigned for personal reasons, effective Dec. 27.
Armstrong already has his Firefighter I and II certifications, Chief Burgess pointed out.
Once Armstrong passes his physical and receives PERF (Public Employment Retirement Fund) approval, he will be sworn in. The swearing-in ceremony is also expected to include Jonathan Newgent, who was approved by the board for a GFD vacancy back in October.
Board of Works members Mayor Bill Dory, Trudy Selvia and Craig Tuggle were all present for the December meeting, along with Clerk-Treasurer Dunbar and City Attorney Laurie Hardwick.
The board will next meet at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15 at City Hall.