The North Wilkesboro Fire Department has a new aerial fire truck, JournalPatriot.com reported.
The 2022 Pierce Manufacturing aerial mid-mount truck, which arrived Jan. 19, has several advantages over the department’s 1987 rear-mount truck, according to a fire official, the report said.
The truck’s aerial tower extends 100 feet in five telescoping sections, which the fire official said is 15 feet more than the 1987 truck. The additional height provides the new capability of pumping water on Wilkes Towers from a point above the structure. Wilkes Towers is the town’s tallest building, the report said.
The truck has a Cummins 500hp engine, 300-gallon water tank and can pump 2,000 gallons of water per minute, the report said. It has a Stokes basket mounted on the bucket at the end of the tower and a 10-foot-long ladder can also be mounted there for accessing tops of buildings and elsewhere.
The fire official said the new aerial truck cost $1.4 million and was funded with a $944,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, according to the report. Remaining funds came from the town.
The 1987 aerial truck will be put up for sale, the report said.