HARVEST, Ala. — With more people and more multi-story buildings moving into North Alabama, firefighters need a way to get to high places in an emergency. The Monrovia Volunteer Fire and Rescue Team are well on their way to being able to fully operate their new aerial ladder truck, designed specifically for those high-up situations.
The firefighters have gone through a lot of work to get here, and they're almost done. 15 members took emergency vehicle training and fire pump course, plus an aerial operator course, totaling 96 hours of training. Chris Phillips, a firefighter, EMT, and Fire Prevention Coordinator, says, "People volunteering their time to do this is really it's a really awesome aspect and it shows how community-driven they are."
The station recently acquired the aerial truck to act as a resource for all of the growing structures within the communities they serve, whether it's to deal with fires or rescues. Lt. James Filley says, "Over the last year, we've had at least three or four homes where the fire was basically already out of control by the time we got there. And so that piece of aerial apparatus like this really helps to put that fire out really quickly, especially on a larger home."
The team can sometimes average eight to ten calls a day. Last year they ran a total of about 2,300 calls.
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