MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA, Ala. — As Madison County continues to grow, so has Monrovia Volunteer Fire/Rescue.
The station acquired a new aerial ladder truck in preparation of the growing structures and population within Clift Farm and surrounding areas.
The firefighting team put several hours of their personal time into different fire certifications in partnership with Alabama Fire College.
In order to operate this new aerial truck, they'll need to put in 96 hours of training before their last step of the process.
The team has already put in 56 hours, so they're well on their way.
Lieutenant James Filley, with Monrovia Volunteer Fire/Rescue shares, "Monrovia Fire did buy a 100 foot pierce aerial apparatus. And that's really to support the growth of our district. So we've got a lot of new apartment buildings, a lot of multi-story structures and having that aerial apparatus became very critical for us and for us putting that in service...We set the requirement that everyone needs to get the fire apparatus operator aerial certification."
He says they stay busy as they run about 2,300 calls a year, assisting those in car accidents, medical emergencies and fire.
And this new aerial truck has been all part of their plan, "we set forth a plan, a five year plan that did include getting a truck like this and service. And a lot of it was to support, obviously, Monrovia as it currently stands. But also a big driver of it was Clift Farm, Clift Farm brings a lot of multi-story structures to our district that we didn't have before. And it creates a much bigger hazard if we don't have that aerial truck," Lt. Filley said.
As things take time to learn and understand, the Monrovia fire team knows training is necessary before operating this new machinery safely.
These volunteer firefighters have already put in 160 hours of training in order to work on the team.
Then another 16 hours to be an emergency vehicle driver and recently they completed a 40 hour pumper training.
"Operating the pump is one of the most critical things because if you're a firefighter in a burning building, you obviously don't want to lose your hose…you don't want to lose water," Lt. Filley said.
Now they'll move to the 40 hour aerial operator course, "we have that training, we're going to partner that with our internal apparatus training and then we're going to get a bunch of people certified to drive our tower truck," Lt. Filley said.
Because this team is 100% volunteer based, it brings together many different people, from engineers to nurses, putting in several hours of their own personal time, all with the same goal.
"I think it's the call to service that generally brings people in helping your neighbor. We have a we have a lot of people who are very committed to our cause and…lot of very dedicated volunteers," Lt. Filley said.
Right now Monrovia Volunteer Fire/Rescue rely on Madison or Huntsville fire department to help them with aerial fires, so they're excited to get the team trained and ready to use the new truck.