The Lebanon Fire Department and the City of Lebanon welcomed a new ladder fire truck into the department’s fleet Monday evening with a traditional push-in ceremony at Lebanon Fire Station 3 at 1300 Ivey Lane.
Mayor Jared Carr and Fire Chief Sam Schneider both gave thanks to the public for its support through the public safety sales tax
during their remarks before the push-in of the truck, which Carr referred to as the flagship of the city’s fleet.
“This truck is going to be stationed here,” Fire Chief Schneider said at the ceremony, with the truck being on the front line out of the station.
Deputy Chief Andy Woody said at the ceremony the old truck will serve as a reserve apparatus.
In an interview Monday morning, Schneider said the new truck replaced a similar 100-foot platform truck that was 23 years old whose parts were becoming harder to get.
The old truck had also, he said, exceeded the city’s depreciation value it uses for the LFD’s vehicles.
The truck did take some time to get, which Schneider said had become common place in the fire industry – the order had been placed in August 2024 and arrived two weeks ago.
The truck being new should make it more reliable, he said, and other improvements on the truck included a hose bed that allows the reloading from the ground of a larger diameter fire hose, ability for rope rescues with an improved weight capacity, a foam system that helps with large fires related to things like fuel, and passenger safety aspects like air bags.
“Believe it or not,” he said of the airbags, “fire trucks haven’t had airbags in them for as long as passenger cars have.”
Later in the evening, the public, city officials, and the fire department took part in the traditional push-in ceremony of the truck. After the ceremony, those present were able to see the ladder and bucket of the truck extend into the air.
For more stories, see Wednesday's LCR.
