Rye FD’s Ladder 25 is headed for a makeover expected to provide the rig–and Rye taxpayers–another ten years of ladder service. The Rye City Council approved the $400,000 expense in one of its last actions of 2020.
Put into service in 2007, Ladder 25 joined the identical but older Ladder 26 that entered service in 2001. Both ladder trucks are low profile–important because they fit under all the City’s bridges. Due to decayed electrical and structural issues in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Ladder 26 finally failed inspection and was redlined in 2015. At that point, the City decided it could make due with a single ladder truck, Ladder 25.
Ladder 25 passed annual structural tests until 2020 when testing showed “It was not fit for fire service,” Lieutenant John McDwyer told MyRye.com. Today, Rye depends on mutual aid from Harrison and Mamaroneck for aerial rescue.
The Rye FD looked at replacing Ladder 25 with a new rig, but that would have run the City $1.4 million plus an 18 month delivery that would mean another $153,000 in rental fees for a temporary rig. And a new rig is only expected to see about 15 years of service in a shoreline community such as Rye (due to salt water erosion). Finally, low profile trucks are no longer available from Seagrave (the manufacturer) which means possible delayed response times when routing around the City’s low profile bridges.
What’s next? Ladder 25 will head back to the manufacturer Seagrave in Wisconsin. And the Rye FD’s dealer, Hudson Valley Fire Equipment, LLC, has located a ladder truck the City can rent for the five months while Ladder 25’s makeover is in progress.
And whatever happened to Ladder 26? The inoperable rig has sat at Milton firehouse since 2015. As part of the current recommendation, Lieutenant John McDwyer said in an internal City memo “I would recommend we salvage as many parts: engine, transmission, etc. for spares if in the event we have an issue with L-25 and the rest could be sold as scrap metal.” Ladder 26 is expected to be officially declared surplus at this week’s council meeting.
