Passaic Today

Passaic, N.J. – The Passaic Fire Department is excited to announce the successful restoration of its 90 ft. Aerial Tower Ladder, a crucial apparatus that has now been returned to service following severe damage in September 2021 from Hurricane Ida. The delivery of the truck took place on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at 10:00 AM at the Passaic Eastside Firehouse Headquarters. 

“Today we received the delivery of our refurbished Ladder one, which is a Spartan Senior Aerial truck, and it was involved in the IDA flooding back in 2021, September,” Said Patrick Trentacost, Chief of Fire Department. “The entire cave had to be replaced. The ladder itself was in great shape. They took the ladder off, build a whole new truck and put the ladder back on with its cabinets and here is what we have today. Everything is brand-new, the cab, wheels, base, frame, electrical, hydraulics, everything was replaced, brand new. This is considered a 22 23 brand-new truck on the title.” 

The Aerial Tower Ladder, weighing over 85,000 lbs., was originally purchased five years ago and had been in service until it suffered significant damage during Hurricane Ida. The truck was submerged under 8 feet of water while engaged in a rescue operation. 

“This ladder truck was one out of the two in the city. Last year we had to rely on spare trucks and apparatus. It compromises our response to the city and citizens. We no longer have to rely on mutual aid because we were down a ladder truck. This creates a safer and more protected city for our residents because we have both trucks back in our city.” Explained Patrick Trentacost, Chief of Fire Department. 

Fully covered by private insurance, the truck underwent extensive refurbishment by Campbell Supply, located in Piscataway, at no cost to taxpayers. With an investment of $690,000, this remarkable restoration effort brings the ladder truck back to its optimal condition. 

“The tower ladder has a bucket on the end and that allows for firefighters and civilians to go into the bucket and be safely taken out of an apartment or any type of hazard and safely put back to the sidewalk,” Said, Firefighter Brendan Buck of the Passaic Fire Department. “We can use the tower ladder as a high point anchor and we can lower people and equipment off it using it with its 1000lb tip load capacity. Ladder two doesn’t have that 1000lb advantage that Ladder one does.” 

To ensure the safe and effective operation of the Aerial Tower Ladder, our dedicated firefighters will undergo training. This retraining process will last approximately one week, with the ladder truck back in active service during the first week of June. 

Original source can be found here.