Sometimes as busy as we can be in our own work, we don't get to publish stories on time or even at all in some instances. This has certainly happened to me a few times over the years but this is one of those stories that I really think there is something to be proud of.

Over the last two years department members and leadership have discussed, worked and have made the decision to replace the current Tower-9. Tower-9 is a 2000 Spartan/American LaFrance 93' Tower and has currently served us well, but by making the decision to push up the timeline on Tower-9, it has allowed for us to make some massive overall savings to the department and public. As most of us in the fire service knows, the price of a fire apparatus has soared over the last 10-15 years. In 1974 when Bay District purchased our very first ladder truck it was $250,000 which was a top of the line apparatus then, currently a new apparatus similar with all the requirements of today (including EPA, NFPA, UL and DOT) would cost upwards of over a million dollars.

So while mixing a little old with new, the department has come to the decision that replacing the Tower utilizing a component of an older apparatus that will increase desired improvements to the overall apparatus and operations, allowing for a majority of modernizing - resulting in an apparatus that will provide great capability with cost savings of over a $600,000 dollars to the department and taxpayers. So the next question is "How is this accomplished?". Well for some of you familiar with Aerialscope these units have served the fire service for about 50 years and are regarded as some of the toughest and most durable aerial devices in the fire service. A new Aerialscope 75' could cost upwards of over 1.3 million dollars however a donor unit that would come for an older era would be significantly...significantly less. After much discussion we have found that Pierce has and continues to refurbish these aerial devices, placing them on new chassis', overhauling and replacing/updating a majority of the components. After investigating and even visiting Harrisburg (the Capital) of Pennsylvania who currently and has been operating a 2009 Arrow XT 75' Aerialscope Refurb (Tower-1, also the busiest Tower-Ladder in the city) for input and opinions. There graciousness, honesty and help with us on this has been absolutely invaluable to this department and is one of the major reasons why we opted to move forward on this path.

So once a donor unit had been found by our local Pierce dealer R. Schwartz, inspected by Pierce's Refurbishment Facility VP R. Peeters (and confirmed as being a good donor,) the purchase was obtained and unit shipped. The unit we purchased was a 1970's Mack 75' Aerialscope from New York and originally from Broward County (Cocoa Beach), FL in really excellent shape. The truck was in such good shape it had been in service 1.5 years before we purchased it. The contract was then signed and the Tower-9 Committee has just completed it's Pre-Engineering Conference last month. "So what's the next step?"... the Aerial or Boom, Torque Box and Outriggers will be removed (from the original truck), disassembled, metalergically tested, major components upgraded/reassembled and placed on a brand new 2016 cab and chassis. We hope to see the new Tower-9 sometime in September and the committee will be continuing to make trips to Wisconsin so stay tuned... The Tower-9 Committee consists of the following members and I am personally grateful for their hardwork and dedication:

Deputy Chief S. Stockwell, Chairman
Assistant Chief M. Warren
Deputy Chief S. Vallandingham
1st Engineer S. Wurtz
FF M. Duncan
FF P. Thomas
FF M. Ryan

Additionally -

Fire Chief J. Gould
Past Chief R. Wahrenbrock