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Manteca may spend $1.5 million for aerial fire truck
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A significant amount of smoke coming out of the air condition ducts brought fire engines - including the 100-foot aerial platform ladder truck - to the Manteca Auto Plaza car dealership mid-morning Wednesday at South Main Street and Highway 120 Bypass where employees had vacated the building. Firefighters used their 100-foot aerial ladder to reach the roof area where they reportedly found wires had burned in an air conditioning unit. The ladder truck is the engine company that will be browned out when staffing levels drop during the coming year. - photo by GLEN KAHLL

Manteca needs to spend $1.5 million for a new aerial fire truck.

It is included in a $45 million capital improvement plan the City Council will consider for inclusion in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year starting July 1 when they meet Tuesday at 2 p.m. in a special session at the Manteca Senior Center, 295 Cherry Lane.

The current truck with a 100-foot ladder and aerial platform that allows directing streams of water on fires from above was delivered to Manteca in 2010.

It is now often out of service due to mechanical failures and unable to respond to calls.

It was noted in the capital improvement plan “adding a second ladder truck to our fleet is critical to ensure (the department’s) ability to always respond to emergency calls with the appropriate apparatus.”

Ladder trucks are essential not just for massive retail and distribution centers but also such endeavors as the five-story, 500-room Great Wolf resort. It has also been effective in combatting house fires and most recently a tire fire at a business on North Main Street.

Being able to quickly put water on fires from above has been credited over the years with helping to reduce fire losses.

Overall, the fire department is seeking $1.8 million for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

That includes security fencing costing $80,000 for three of the fire stations that do not currently have it in place.

Several years ago the homeless were starting to sleep behind the Louise Avenue station. Also more people have been found wandering onto fire station property at night such as behind the Powers Avenue station.

Funding for $78,500 worth of equipment for the new fire engine the city is taking delivery of this year is included as well as spending $140,000 for a new station alerting system as the exiting system is nearing the end of its life as parts and technicians are difficult to locate for the aging technology now in place.

There is also $52,000 for a replacement emergency response vehicle for the battalion chief.

 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com