» Amsterdam Fire Department unveils new $1.75M ladder truck, cost supported by $350K state grant

Jun 09, 2023

Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara presents $350,000 in state funding to Amsterdam Mayor Michael Cinquanti and city Fire Chief Anthony Agresta in order to support the purchase of the Amsterdam Fire Department's new ladder truck on Tuesday.

AMSTERDAM — After an aging fire ladder truck failed at several emergency scenes last year, officials on Tuesday eagerly unveiled a new ladder truck purchased for the Amsterdam Fire Department for $1.75 million.

“It was breaking down too many times to be depended upon, so we knew we had to act,” Mayor Michael Cinquanti said.

The city was forced to replace the essential public safety vehicle at least a year earlier than officials hoped and in an unfavorable market exacerbated by extended delivery times. The Common Council authorized the purchase in July 2022.

“We were in a tough spot where we had no ladder truck working, we had a rash of fires in the middle of last summer and we really needed to pull something off,” Fire Chief Anthony Agresta said.

Agresta was able to rapidly secure a Pierce Enforcer 100-foot ladder truck the manufacturer originally planned to use as a demonstration vehicle. The truck was delivered to the city in March.

Ordering the same apparatus today would cost around $2.3 million for expected delivery three years from now, Agresta estimated.

Still, officials had to accelerate plans to pay for the vehicle to replace the city’s over 20-year-old ladder truck. Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, secured a $350,000 state grant, which was formally presented on Tuesday.

“Our firefighters are being asked to do more and more as time goes on. They put their lives in danger to ensure our community is safe,” Santabarbara said. “One of the things we can do is provide the best equipment to help them do their jobs and that’s what we’re doing here.”

“We could not do many of the things we do without state support,” Cinquanti said.

The remainder of the purchase will be paid for with a low interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture secured by the city, Cinquanti said. The old ladder truck has also been listed for sale and any proceeds could further defray costs.

Crews demonstrated the capabilities of the new equipment featuring an aerial platform basket with dual nozzles able to simultaneously deliver water from atop the single vehicle when fighting fires.

The mid-mount rig will be able to navigate the city more easily than the rear-mount rig it replaces and the modern equipment will allow for faster setup and deployment at emergency scenes, Agresta said.

Most importantly, Agresta said the ladder truck will perform reliably with a useful life of around 20 years. The apparatus is deployed on all fire calls and alarm activations, as well as medical emergencies when other vehicles are unavailable.

Firefighters are still training on the truck before it is placed in regular service, but its arrival has already been a reassuring sign to crews responding to emergencies.

“Just having something that we know we can depend on means a lot to us. We have a lot of other things we need to think about when we’re at a fire, so knowing we can depend on the rig takes that much pressure off of us,” Lt. Andy Ianotti said.

Reach Ashley Onyon at [email protected] or @AshleyOnyon on Twitter.

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