Painesville City Fire Department Acquires New Aerial Fire Truck

The Painesville City Fire Department (PCFD) is proud to announce the arrival of the City’s new aerial ladder truck. The Sutphen SPH100, features a 100 foot ladder with a large bucket capable of carrying 1,000 lbs.

 

The new purchase comes after the late 2019 discovery that PCFD’s 1990 Sutphen 90 foot aerial ladder truck had developed serious frame corrosion issues. Coupled with other costly repairs, the City took the truck out of service permanently for safety reasons. Through collaboration with Painesville City Council, the City’s finance department and the 5-year Fire Equipment Levy, PCFD was able to set up a finance plan to purchase the new truck.

 

The Sutphen SPH100 features many new and exciting features including a state of the art hydraulic/electric generator, multiple LED scene lights, an enclosed cab with room for six firefighters, a 360 degree camera system that is viewable from the cab, and multiple compartments to safely store all equipment. The truck can pump over 1,500 gallons of water per minute to nozzles on either side of the ladder bucket. The new truck will offer PCFD much greater capability at commercial and industrial fires, as well as operations at the many multi-story buildings and home residences in Painesville.

 

PCFD personnel are currently training with the new truck, which is scheduled to be put in service in July 2020.  “Just like when you buy a new vehicle and have to get used to it, so do firefighters with a new truck,” said Chief Tom Hummel. “It’s a very large vehicle, so we train extensively on it before we bring it to an actual emergency situation. We want to make sure all our firefighters are comfortable and familiar with the apparatus before they have to use it to save lives.”

 

PCFD is excited to show off their new aerial truck to Painesville residents and thank them for their continued support of the Fire Equipment Levy. Once Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, PCFD plans on hosting a public open house at the fire station to showcase the new apparatus. Look out for more information in the coming months on PCFD’s Facebook page and www.painesville.com.