St. Clair Shores Fire Department Will Get New Ladder Truck

ST. CLAIR SHORES, MI — A new ladder truck for the St. Clair Shores Fire Department is in the works. The city was recently awarded a federal grant worth more than $600,000 to help pay for the vehicle, which will replace a ladder truck in use since 1990, C & G Newspapers reported.

The new ladder truck will be purchased after a competitive public bidding process. After a contract is awarded, new fire vehicles are typically delivered within six to nine months. The bidding process can take several months.

“You have to put your best case forward, and when you do, it has to go through several rounds of weeding out,” interim Fire Chief Ryan Koepp said. “At the end of the day, we were left standing. We made a very compelling case that the city of St. Clair Shores ... could present a need for it, but we had also been very responsible with federal money we had received in the past, and we were going to be good stewards of the money.”

“The vehicle we have now literally sits parked, and we only use it when we need it,” St. Clair Shores Battalion Chief Chris Krotche said, such as when a commercial building is on fire. “We’re (also) going to take an aged engine out of service that’s currently running front-line.”

For more, go to C & G Newspapers.

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Editor's Note: The picture above of a quint ladder truck is used for illustrative purposes only. Photo by InAweofGod'sCreation via Flickr Commons