Brenham Fire Department officials approached the city council recently requesting funding to purchase two new ladder trucks through the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) Cooperative Purchasing Program, kdhnews.com reported.

The new apparatus would be a 100-foot Pierce Enforcer aerial mid-mount ladder and a 75-foot Pierce Custom Enforcer aerial ladder and would replace the department’s current Ladder 1 and Ladder 2, the report said.

The urgency for getting the order in had been escalated after it was learned that an impending 7 percent cost increase across the board would take effect Nov. 1, according to the report.

The 100-foot ladder truck will cost an estimated $2,332,091.70, according to estimates included in the request submitted to council. 

The 75-foot ladder truck will cost an estimated $1,620,036.31, information in the estimate shows. 

Both of BFD’s current ladder trucks are 2007 models, the report said. The department intends to sell them rather than use them for trade-in credit.

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DANKO—Bement (IL) Fire Protection District flatbed brush truck. Ford F-550 cab and chassis; Ford 7.3L 330-hp engine; Waterous 2515E 155-gpm pump; UPF Poly 500-gallon water tank; 12-gallon foam cell; Scotty 4171 around-the-pump single-agent foam system; front ground sweeps; TFT Tornado monitor. Dealer: Steve Garner, Garner Sales & Service, Cooksville, IL.

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Kiersten Hacker
Baltimore Sun
(TNS)

BALTIMORE — Almost one year since two firefighters were killed after battling a blaze on Linden Heights Avenue, the fire has been classified as accidental, according to a news release from the Baltimore City Fire Department.

A fire broke out on Oct. 19, 2023, tearing through a group of rowhomes. Two firefighters, 31-year-old Rodney Pitts III, of Baltimore, and 26-year-old Dillon J. Rinaldo were killed and four others were injured.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms found that the fire at 5210 Linden Heights Avenue began in the rear addition on the first floor. Maryland Occupational Safety and Health, which also investigated, found no violation of applicable laws or regulations.

“The loss of our colleagues in the Linden Heights fire is a profound tragedy that deeply affects our entire department and the community,” Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said in a statement. “Our firefighters put their lives on the line every day, and it is heartbreaking when such sacrifice results in loss.”

The cause of the fire remains unknown, despite finding its origin. ATF investigators were able to rule out an electrical system failure or improperly disposed smoking materials, according to the fire department.

“While it has been determined the fire was accidental in nature, the impact it caused is no less tragic,” Toni M. Crosby, ATF special agent in charge of the Baltimore Field Division, said in the release. “Our hearts continue to be with the firefighter’s families and friends and our partners at Baltimore City Fire Department.”

A 2011 graduate of Digital Harbor High School, Pitts started as a firefighter and EMT in August 2023 after joining the city fire department the year before. He was on Engine 29 stationed in Park Heights.

Rinaldo came to Baltimore to pursue his goal of becoming a career firefighter, leaving the fire department in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, which he joined as a junior firefighter while in high school and where his father served as chief.

The Linden Heights fire occurred while the city was still reeling from the fire inside a vacant home in the 200 block of S. Stricker Street that left three firefighters dead in 2022.

“The thoughts of BCFD are with the families of those who were killed and injured and their bravery is honored,” the release said. The fire department “remains committed to upholding the highest standards of safety and operational excellence.”

©2024 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Alan M. Petrillo

The Hutchinson Fire Department experienced the Cottonwood Complex fire in 2023, a wildland/urban interface fire event that burned 36 homes, 92 outbuildings, 110 vehicles and 12,000 acres of grassland and northern red cedar. The department had two Weis F-550 quick attack/wildland pumpers, two F350 wildland rigs, and three 6×6 1,000-gallon tankers to deal with the situation from its end. After the conflagration, Hutchinson decided it needed more Weis quick attack/wildland rigs for future wildland/urban interface situations.

Nick White, Hutchinson’s battalion chief, says that after the fire Hutchinson received a grant which allowed it to purchase three Weis quick attack/wildland rigs. “We put together a committee, determined what we liked and didn’t like, what was missing from our current trucks, and developed a spec that we sent to Weis,” White says.

Mike Weis, owner of Weis Fire and Safety, says the three quick attack/wildland pumpers for Hutchinson are built on Ford F-550 4×4 chassis and Super Cabs with seating for four fighters, powered by 475-horsepower (hp) 6.7-liter diesel engines, and with Super Singles wheels and tires. The quick attack units have a 100 gallon-per-minute (gpm) Hale HPX 200-K24 pump powered by a 24-hp Kubota diesel engine, and a 450-gallon water tank.

White points out that the quick attack rigs have a HyperSight thermal imaging camera at the top of the front brush guard, two ground sweep nozzles at the front corners of the truck, a stainless steel Stang front bumper monitor with a half-inch smoothbore tip to give stream quality and reach compared to a combination nozzle, six feet of one-inch whip line in the crosswalk, and 150 feet of one-inch booster line hose on an electric reel.