5 August 2005

Longwood University donates $100,000 to Town of Farmville for new ladder truck for Farmville Fire Department

Longwood President Patricia Cormier hands up a ceremonial check to Farmville Town Manager Gerry Spates.

Longwood University has donated $100,000 to the Town of Farmville to help pay for a new ladder truck purchased recently for the Farmville Fire Department.

Longwood officials wanted to contribute since the 105-foot aerial ladder on the 2005 Pierce Quantum ladder truck would be particularly helpful if called upon to fight a fire in the university's two high-rise residence halls, Curry and Frazer. Longwood was involved in the fire department's acquisition of a previous ladder truck in 1978.

"We take fire safety very seriously at Longwood University and we are glad to help the Town of Farmville purchase this wonderful new fire truck," said Longwood President Dr. Patricia Cormier. "The Farmville Fire Department has always been there for us and we hope this contribution will help to ensure the safety of all of our area residents."

"This truck enhances our level of operation and allows us to vastly improve our service delivery to the university, both in terms of student safety and protection of facilities," said Farmville Fire Chief Tim McKay. "It gives us greatly increased reach and tactical capability. We're greatly indebted to Longwood for their assistance in helping us obtain this truck."

OLD VS. NEW

The new truck replaces this temporary ladder truck (above), a 1973 Pierce Snorkel, which currently sits behind the fire house waiting to be picked up by a fire department in Zion Crossroads in Louisa County, which recently purchased it.

The new 2005 Pierce Quantum ladder truck

Farmville Town Manager Gerry Spates was happy to accept the donation. "We really appreciate Longwood stepping forward to help with this project," he said. "The university is a big part of this town, and this is a prime example of how Longwood and the Town work hand-in-hand."

The new truck replaces a temporary ladder truck, a 1973 Pierce Snorkel, acquired about a year ago from the Fredericksburg Fire Department. That truck, now in the process of being purchased by a fire department in Zion Crossroads in Louisa County, had replaced a 1978 ladder truck damaged while being used to fight the fire in downtown Farmville on July 14, 2003 that destroyed the Main Street Mall. "After that fire, we continued to use the 1978 truck for several months until it was due for its annual test, which it failed, then we took it out of commission," McKay said.

The late Delegate Claude Anderson, who represented Prince Edward County for many years, was instrumental in the acquisition of the 1978 truck, which was purchased by the State for the Farmville Fire Department, McKay said.

"The new truck is the fourth ladder truck used by the Farmville Fire Department," McKay said. "The first one was a 1954 truck the Town had paid for. After Longwood built the high-rises in the 1970s, we knew we needed more than that; in fact, the 1978 truck was purchased because of the high-rises. The purchase was justified because the high-rises were new. Even without Longwood, though, we would still have needed a ladder truck. Any building over three floors we cannot reach with the ground ladders we carry on the other trucks. And it's not just the high-rises; it's also the Cunninghams (residence halls) and the new science building. A ladder truck has become an indispensable part of our fleet."

The new truck is the tallest ladder truck made by Pierce Manufacturing, which is the largest manufacturer of fire trucks in the United States, said Joe Mackereth, captain of the Farmville Fire Department. "Its heavy duty ladder is built in four sections: a base-mounted section and three extensions," he said. "The telescoping waterway (a pipe through which water flows) is attached under the ladder, and, like the ladder, extends in sections. Just like with any ladder truck, the turntable (a platform atop the rear) is capable of rotating 360 degrees and allows you to operate the ladder in any position. The controls for the ladder are both on the turntable and at the tip of the ladder."

The Longwood logo adorns the sides of the ladder on the Farmville Fire Department's new ladder truck.

The truck, painted white with blue and gold striping, is 43 feet, 3 inches long; 12 feet, 1 3/4 inches high; weighs 73,500 pounds and has a 450-horsepower Cummins diesel engine. The cab is a custom-built Quantum seated for six firefighters (two up front, four in the back). The inscription "T-1," for Truck 1, is painted in blue on the front grill, and Town and Longwood logos adorn the "Farmville Fire, Truck 1" sign along both sides of the ladder.

After being manufactured at Pierce's facility in Appleton, Wisconsin, in early June, the truck was delivered to Pierce's service center in Richmond, Singer Associates, where all of the electrical equipment was installed. This is also where the Farmville Fire Department sends its fire engines for preventive maintenance and repairs. Then on June 13 it arrived at the fire house in Farmville, where fire-fighting equipment was installed by the members.

"It went into service July 9 at the annual installation of officers' picnic at Wilck's Lake," Mackereth said. "It's been quiet, so we haven't had to use it yet."

Among the truck's features are:

• a 2,000-gallon per minute pump. The other ladder truck pumped 1,000 gallons per minute.
  
  
• it carries 270 gallons of water and 30 gallons of Class A foam, which helps water extinguish fires faster. The other ladder truck didn't carry water or foam.
  
  
• 600 feet of four-inch supply hose, which carries water from the water supply to the truck. The other ladder truck didn't have supply hose.
  
  
• six new air packs (firefighters' breathing apparatus) and 15 spare air cylinders, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. The air packs, which provide 30 minutes of oxygen, are made of a composite material and are lighter than the old steel packs. Also, with a new system in which two 6,000-psi air bottles are mounted on top of the truck, firefighters can refill empty air packs anywhere the truck is. "In the past, we had to return to the fire house," Mackereth said.
  
  
• eight 750-watt scene lights mounted on top of the truck, as well as four 750-watt portable scene lights stored on the side.
  
  
• a 10-kilowatt hydraulic generator and two junction boxes on a 200-foot cord on both sides of the truck. "We don't need to hook up to any power source when we get there; we bring the power with us," Mackereth said.
  
  
• a hydraulic winch with a 12,000-pound capacity and 125 feet of cable.
  
  
• a headset system for all six passengers, which consists of headphones with a microphone (similar to that of an airline pilot). "It gets pretty noisy in the cab on the way to a fire, and this lets everyone communicate with each other, with Farmville Dispatch, and with other fire trucks," Mackereth said. "This system also has been installed in the engine."
  
  
• side-roll air bags in the cab.
  
  
• all-wheel steering, which assists in steering the truck by turning the rear wheels.
  
  
• an impressive array of equipment, including axes, sledge hammers, bolt and cable cutters, pike poles, pry bars, fan, chain saws, portable lights, search ropes, a thermal imaging camera, roof and extension ladders, drills and "any general purpose tool you can think of. A ladder truck is basically a big rolling tool box," Mackereth said.

Longwood's $100,000 donation for the fire truck came from "local funds generated from interest or revenue earned on our vending machine operations," said Kathy Worster, vice president for administration and finance. "These are not state funds."

The new truck is one of three Pierce trucks used by the Farmville Fire Department. The town engine, acquired in 2001, also is a Pierce Quantum, and the county engine is a 1998 Pierce Freightliner, which is used as the first-out engine on county calls. "The town engine and ladder truck respond to all structural fires in town," Mackereth said. "The ladder truck, which also qualifies as an engine, can operate in place of the town engine if it's out of service or on another call. The new truck also will respond to structural fires in the county after both the county engine and tankers have responded. In addition, it can respond at any time by special request."