Fire Rescue's new truck weighs 90,000 pounds, is 47 feet long and holds 500 gallons of water

Maddy Rubin
·3 min read
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Palm Beach County Fire Rescue rolled out its first 100-foot aerial unit Wednesday morning. It is the tallest aerial unit in the fleet and there are no in-service aerial units taller in the county.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue rolled out its first 100-foot aerial unit Wednesday morning. It is the tallest aerial unit in the fleet and there are no in-service aerial units taller in the county.

ROYAL PALM BEACH — Just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dan Naughton stood atop a 6,000-pound truck holding a bucket of water.

Moments earlier, it had been filled by firefighters from the hose of a smaller truck.

Naughton faced the crowd beneath him, and slowly emptied the bucket into the truck’s 500-gallon tank. As the last droplet trickled out, onlookers cheered, and Naughton – a Palm Beach County Fire Rescue driver – smiled back.

He climbed down from Truck 29, the newest and largest unit in the county’s fleet, and rejoined the crowd to celebrate the vehicle officially entering the service.

“The transfer of water shows the continuation of pride, service, knowledge and tradition,” Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Captain Tom Reyes said. “(We’re) making sure that our original mission continues, and the lessons learned while serving on past apparatuses remain with us through the future.”

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue rolls out its first 100-foot aerial unit Wednesday morning. It is the tallest aerial unit in the fleet and there are no in-service aerial units taller in the county. Truck 29 reaches higher vertically and extend farther horizontally than any other aerial apparatus in its fleet and carries cutting-edge technology that supports firefighter health and safety initiatives.

Truck 29’s "Rollback Ceremony" – named after the conventional practice of manually pushing a truck into the station before its first use – took place at Station 29 in Royal Palm Beach, where the vehicle will be housed. County administrators and Royal Palm Beach city officials joined the Station 29 crew and PBC Fire Rescue retirees for the dedication of the new unit.

Only truck with a 100-foot rear-mount ladder

The 47-foot truck is the tallest, longest, and heaviest unit in the county’s fleet. It is the only truck with a 100-foot rear-mount ladder, which can extend farther in every direction than any other county truck.

At its full height, the ladder reaches two to three stories higher than the next largest truck, allowing firefighters to more effectively respond to crises on higher floors of buildings. Though it will be housed at Station 29, the truck will service all of Palm Beach County.

A Palm Beach County Fire Rescue worker puts the finishing touches on its newest vehicle - Truck 29, which reaches higher vertically and extend farther horizontally than any other aerial apparatus in its fleet and carries cutting-edge technology that supports firefighter health and safety initiatives.
A Palm Beach County Fire Rescue worker puts the finishing touches on its newest vehicle - Truck 29, which reaches higher vertically and extend farther horizontally than any other aerial apparatus in its fleet and carries cutting-edge technology that supports firefighter health and safety initiatives.

“At 100 feet, the reach that we're gonna gain throughout the county wherever we need (Truck 29) is spectacular,” Palm Beach County Fire Rescue District Chief Phillip Olavarria said. “And then to turn around and have it right here in our battalion, so it's centrally located and can get to wherever it needs to go is just an added improvement to all of our service.”

The platform atop Truck 29’s ladder can sustain up to 1,300 pounds, allowing space for more firefighters and equipment than any other vehicle. Its pump delivers up to 2,000 gallons of water per minute, 40 percent more than the county’s next best unit. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue plans to use the truck as a frontline vehicle for the next decade, and keep it in the reserve for five to 10 additional years.

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Five years of planning and one and a half years of building preceded Wednesday’s ceremony. After the Fire Rescue gained approval to purchase the vehicle, a committee of firefighters from across the county helped design the unit, which was built in Florida.

Because firefighters endure prolonged exposure to carcinogens linked to lung cancer, Truck 29 was specifically engineered to support their health. Easily removable seat cushions and metal floors can be cleaned after each use, preventing carcinogen build-up.

The 100 fire rescue employees underwent a six-week training program to operate the new vehicle.  The truck will officially begin servicing the county from Station 29 this week.

“What more can you say other than that this is a proud, proud, proud special day for Fire Truck #29, for the Village of Royal Palm Beach and all the citizens,” Royal Palm Beach Mayor Fred Pinto said, “and more broadly, for the firefighters of Palm Beach County.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County Fire Rescue rolls out its newest, tallest truck