Jefferson City welcomes new firetruck to replace damaged unit
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A new fire truck that was delivered to Jefferson City Hall on Monday night is set to replace a truck that was damaged by power lines last year.
The new truck was part of an emergency order after a firetruck was shocked when power lines fell on it in September 2023. The damaged truck was parked on St. Mary’s Boulevard while firefighters were conducting fire-prevention inspections at businesses when a tractor-trailer hit a power line, which brought down a pole and line on top of the truck and shocked it.
No firefighters were on the truck at the time and no injuries were reported. However, the damaged truck was the only one in the department with a basket that could hold up to three people. All trucks in JCFD’s fleet have 100-foot ladders, but the rest did not have baskets.
The new firetruck -- known as a King Cobra -- is now the only truck in the JCFD fleet with a basket. The basket can reach eight stories high and will help with aerial support while fighting fires, according to a department spokesman.
“We have a reserve truck, a 2008 model. It also did not have a platform. So we've been operating with two sticks or two straight sticks (truck with just a ladder) for our aerial fleet. And so that's been a challenge. The bigger challenge, though, is when any of one of those lighter trucks goes down for maintenance or we need an additional truck,” Jefferson City Fire Chief Mattew Schofield said.
“We don't have that because we're using the reserve in the front-line fleet. So not having a reserve ladder truck is a very challenging thing for a city our size that is accustomed to having two aerial apparatus in service every day.”
The 48-foot-long truck weighs 87,000 pounds and was built by Sentinel Emergency Solutions and includes several new features that previous trucks in the department did not have. It cost approximately $1.8 million but Schofield believes it is a worthwhile investment for the community.
“This truck does also allow for an articulating boom, which is really important in terms of accessing remote areas that are inside, like a ladder rooftop that has a parapet wall, especially like if you think of High Street downtown,” Schofield explained. “The ability to get up and over some of those facades on front of those buildings and have access to the roof area is really important, allows it or our personnel to access those areas safer, more efficiently.”
According to a video posted to YouTube, Sentinel Emergency Solutions President Brain Franz says it also includes a traditional department-supplied bell that is attached to the front of trucks as a tradition.
“It was actually a carryover from a previous truck that we had that actually goes back all the way to, I believe, the 1980s. So that bill has been in our fleet for a long time, although they did kind of update a little bit, they powder-coated it to match the theme and the color scheme that we came with this truck,” Schofield explained.
The City Council on Monday night unanimously approved an application for a Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistance to Firefighter Grant for new equipment.
The department sought $697,500 to cover the cost of 65 3M Scott Safety self-contained breathing apparatuses or SCBA. SCBA is a respirator worn by firefighters that provides a supply of breathable gas in dangerous environments. The equipment has a 15-year life expectancy and is considered a high priority for the department.
The 65 SCBAs cost $775,000. The Jefferson City Fire Department would have to match 10% of the purchase price.
