The City of Houston Fire Department’s ladder truck was damaged in an accident last Wednesday at Texas County Memorial Hospital.
Carrying three firefighters, the truck went to the hospital just after 7 p.m. in response to a report of a sounding fire alarm. An accident report submitted by an investigating Houston police officer stated the vehicle was traveling in the drop-off lane at the hospital when it made a left turn and struck one of the pillars that hold up a large awning.
Fire department officials said the truck sustained significant damage to its pump system, and body framework was displaced to an as-yet undetermined extent.
“Upon arrival to TCMH, the driver attempted to pass under the canopy at the main entrance to park on the other side between the main entrance and emergency room entrance,” said Houston City Fire Chief Joey Moore. “While passing under the canopy, the driver checked to make sure the ladder was going to clear the canopy, and while doing so turned too sharp colliding with one of the concrete pillars.”
A representative of the truck’s manufacturer, Pierce, came to Houston last Thursday and assisted in an evaluation of damage. Moore met with an insurance adjuster Friday and the determination was made that the vehicle would need to be transported via flatbed to Pierce’s repair facility in Appleton, Wis.
“The insurance company has started the process to make arrangements to have the truck picked up in Houston and delivered to the repair facility,” Moore said.
Moore said the alarm at TCMH went off due to paint fumes from work being done by contract painters. An estimate of repair costs or length of time the damaged truck will be out of service won’t be known until after it arrives in Appleton, and a full assessment is completed.
“The full extent of the damage will not be fully known until the repair facility is able to gain access to the pump to evaluate it for damage,” Moore said. “I’m hoping it will be out of service for less than six months.”
The Houston Rural Fire Department has offered support while the ladder truck is away.
“Thankfully we just had the pump repaired on our pumper truck a few weeks ago, so it’s in good shape,” Moore said. “In the meantime, Houston Rural has expressed their full support by making any of their trucks available if needed.
“But this is the only ladder truck in the county, so if one is needed for a fire we will have to call a department in from a neighboring county.”
Moore said the driver behind the wheel at the time of the mishap, who not identified, was qualified to be there.
“The driver has completed all required training to drive the ladder truck,” he said. “Each driver is required to complete an annual 16-hour emergency vehicle driving class that includes classroom training and an obstacle course in each truck.”
Houston’s 2007 Pierce Quantum ladder truck is equipped with a 75-foot extendable ladder, and has a 1,500-gallon per minute nozzle at the ladder’s tip and a 2,000-gallon per minute pump capable of delivering firefighting foam mixture from four discharges. It was acquired in late 2006 at a cost of about $650,000, and is being paid for by a voter-approved eighth-cent sales tax that is set to expire next year at the end of June.