SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Three new fire trucks were delivered recently to the Shepherdsville Fire Department.
As part of the plans to upgrade the department and lower the ISO rating, the city approved $2.35 million to design and purchase two brand new engines and one ladder truck. The last time the department bought a new truck was 2006.
Standing in front of the bright green and gray trucks Friday, Fire Chief Layne Troutman said everyone on the department was thrilled when they arrived. The trucks still need to be outfitted with some gear, and each firefighter needs to be trained on driving and operating them. But the plan is to have them on the road by mid April.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Troutman said. “And it definitely will help our responses and help the community out.”
The three engines will replace four old ones, including a 1992 pumper, 1994 pumper, 2006 pumper and 1995 ladder truck. Shepherdsville plans to sell the four old trucks, probably to volunteer departments needing equipment at discounted rates.
Everything on the trucks is shiny and new. The bright green color is impossible to miss, and the trucks are designed with unique features specified by the Shepherdsville firefighters.
Colter Hartlage, who's been with the department for three years and was on the committee to help design the trucks, said each truck has a box on the front of the cab that holds tools the firefighters use regularly. Hartlage said this allows them to have immediate access to important equipment, like the Jaws of Life, as soon as they pull up on a scene.
“This means we can get on scene, get our game plan and immediately go to work,” Hartlage said.
Before, they would have to park the old trucks at certain angles or facing a certain way in order to have access to certain pieces of equipment.
Another difference is that the trucks are built to be safer for the firefighters to use, too. In the new trucks, everything inside can be strapped down. Whereas before, equipment could be loose in the cab. If there was an accident, firefighters risked getting hurt by anything flying around.
The new trucks will also save on maintenance costs, because they come equipped with special computer systems that notify them when something needs to be repaired. The old trucks racked up about $100,000 in annual maintenance costs. The new trucks should cut that price in half.
Troutman said gear on the outside of the truck is also designed to be lower to the ground. Firefighters have gotten hurt in the past from falling off the old trucks, which were taller. On the new trucks, ladders and other compartments are set at shoulder height. That way, nothing is too high, out of reach or dangerous to get to.
The cabs of the engines are also outfitted with dash cameras, pointing in and out. So the moment a truck rolls out to respond to a scene, the department will be able to document the response.
All of the upgrades to the fire engines and safety equipment could help the department lower its Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating. The lower the rating, it could help lower homeowner and business insurance rates. Currently, Shepherdsville is rated ISO 3. A few hundred departments in the country are rated ISO 1. Troutman hopes all the improvements to the department, including hiring eight more full-time firefighters and building a brand new fire station, will help lower their rating to ISO 1.
“This is definitely something the firefighters should be proud of,” he said. "It definitely is a big thing for the progress of the city of Shepherdsville.”
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