The 85,000-square-foot office building, at 401 E. Fayette St., near City Hall, also houses the city’s finance and information technology departments. It was built in 1981, according to state records.

The smoke appeared to have originated on one of the floors above the Fire Department’s mezzanine-level offices, Skinner said.

Brown said he plans to make a final inspection visit to the assembly plant in Ephrata, Pa., where the truck is being built, on March 8.

 

Delivery of the truck, which has a price tag of $950,000, has been delayed a couple of times already. One of the delays was due to manufacturer Smeal Fire Apparatus being bought by Spartan ERV.

 

The new ladder truck, like the one it will replace, is a tiller truck. A tiller truck requires drivers at both the front and rear; a straight truck is driven only from the front.

Stressing that “life safety is our No. 1 goal,” HFD Chief Scott Foreman said “the benefits this truck offers the city of Henderson are 200 percent better than what the old ladder truck had.”  

The truck is a versatile piece of all-around firefighting equipment, Foreman explained, but “obviously the main goal of having a ladder truck is to reach places that are elevated, such as motels, Redbanks and industrial buildings. Really, any occupancy that’s more than two stories, this truck really will come in handy.”