Residents and visitors on St. Croix and St. Thomas can rest assured that their every need will be met in case a fire takes hold in a building taller than three stories. That piece of mind comes with two new 85-foot, aerial ladder trucks that arrived in the territory a few days ago.
On Thursday Gov. John de Jongh, Jr. and Lt. Gov. Gregory Francis took a ride in the bucket of the truck on St. Croix to see what height firefighters can reach to save lives and property. The state of the art, shiny, red truck was on display in the new GERS building parking lot in Orange Grove. On Tuesday the St. Thomas truck was shown off at Schneider Regional Medical Center.
The trucks were purchased for $1.6 million with funding made available through
Act 7081. A total of $ 2.2 million was allocated for equipment and to build structures to house the trucks from the elements, deJongh said.
“This was an investment in human and equipment capital,” deJongh said. “This is something for this day and age and for development in the future.” He said they looked at what the current need was, and they looked forward to the size of hotels planned for St. Croix in particular.
Joel Prowant, export service coordinator for Rosenbauer, manufacturer of the truck, said the ladder reaches 85 feet but it is not used to go straight up; it is used mostly at angles like going across a street. Prowant has been training and giving technical assistance to the local firefighters on how to handle and maintain the eight-man cab truck.
Rob Kreikemeier, of Rosenbauer and owner of the aerial ladder plant, said the truck was designed, with input from fire chiefs, mechanics and firefighters to meet the needs of the territory, including its terrain. From start to finish it took 12 months to build the trucks. The ladders were built in Nebraska, while the trucks were built in South Dakota.
Fire Service Director Victor Brown said the VIFS has not had such equipment in its inventory since the 1970’s.
“This truck is very sophisticated and really top of the line,” said Jaime Santos, firefighter from the Richmond station. “And it is simple to operate.”
He added the truck is a great morale builder for the firefighters and it is a great asset for the community.
