Atlantic County Fire Company Awarded Grant for Larger, Safer Aerial Ladder Truck

NEW YORK — The Minotola Fire Company in Buena Borough, N.J. will purchase a new aerial ladder truck to replace a smaller, 23-year-old truck that is out of service for repairs 20 percent of the time, it was announced here today.

One of Minotola’s fire commissioners, Jeffrey Pace, said today that the current vehicle has been out of service “for a week and a half, leaving our firefighters with only one engine to respond to an incident.” Commissioner Pace said, in addition, that “repairs to the truck’s hydraulic system had recently cost taxpayers nearly $20,000, or almost 10 percent of our entire fire district’s operating budget for just one repair.” 

He said also that the new, 100-foot-long vehicle will allow the company’s volunteer firefighters to stay further away from a blaze than its predecessor, which, he pointed out, was unable to meet the criteria of either the National Fire Protection Association or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The federal funds providing most of the cost for the new vehicle come from an Assistance to Firefighters Grant, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “The grant totals $794,000, with the federal share coming to $756,191,” said Dale McShine, Grants Director for FEMA’s Region II. “The local share is $37,809, or five percent of the total,” she added. The grant will become effective August 26, 2016.

The Town of Minotola comprises part of Buena Borough with a sister city, Landisville, having a population of some 5,000 over eight square miles. Commissioner Pace reported that the Fire Company’s 32 volunteers firefighter respond to roughly 125 calls annually.

Commissioner Pace expressed his appreciation for the FEMA grant. “We are a small borough in western Atlantic County. We simply could not have asked our taxpayers to fund an expenditure of this size, as valuable as it is to our entire community. This is a most practical grant. It will be put to very good use while saving a good deal of taxpayer money.”

The new truck will be able to pump 2,000 gallons of water per minute and will be equipped with a 500-gallon water tank and a 30-gallon foam system, identical to the capabilities of the truck it will replace. The new ladder, though, will be able to rise 35 feet higher than the old one, which also had small structural cracks on its rungs in addition to unsafe railings.

Other new safety features will include appropriate handrails and NFPA-compliant seat belts with a warning system to notify the driver if passengers’ seat belts are not buckled.

“We also have a comprehensive training course,” said Commissioner Pace, “that will put all of our firefighters in compliance with NFPA regulations.”

Tania Hedlund, FEMA’s Region II Chief for grants, reports that in fiscal year 2014, the region awarded 273 grants totaling $95.6 million.