ORWELL, Ohio — The Orwell Fire Department looks at its new ladder truck as the cornerstone for its growth as a fire department over the coming years.
The new truck is expected to be on the road starting next week as Orwell continues to build a new safety center and transition from a volunteer fire department to full-time fire service.
"I think a lot of people think in a small town, we don't need this big of a ladder but they don't realize like at Kraftmaid Cabinetry that we have dust silos out there that we weren't able to reach with our other [truck], we have a lot of factories and a school that we need to protect and this will do that," Chief Shane Gregory said.
The department purchased the truck for about $1.5 million and saved about $500,000 by buying the demo model from the manufacturer. Over the summer, the truck traveled across the east coast for trade shows.
As a result, the department also avoided what's become a three year wait for new truck orders.
"We were lucky this fell into our lap basically in October," Chief Shane Gregory said. "Currently if you were to buy this truck, it's $2 million dollars. It's already gone up."
"It's definitely a challenge," Orwell Village Manager Sean Ratican said. "It's almost impossible to get something on a steady timeline. We were told anywhere from 2-4 years depending on the features they wanted."
The new truck replaces a 35-year-old ladder truck, which the department says they plan to sell and have already received several serious inquiries.
"We have a longer reach, 109 feet instead of a 75 ft ladder truck," Gregory said.
Over the years, News 5 has reported on the growing struggles for fire departments facing skyrocketing costs and long wait times for new trucks.
And experts say it's gotten worse since this report we aired in 2023:
Local News
Critical safety equipment held up by supply chain delays
Data from the International Association of Fire Fighters shows private equity has shrunk the number of truck manufacturers, with just 3 companies now controlling 70% of U.S. production.
"Wait times have doubled, tripled, same with cost," Jon Harvey, president of the Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters, said. "It's a major problem putting communities and people in danger."
Buying a demo model is one way departments have worked around the shortage.
In addition to Orwell, the Geneva Fire Department took that approach several years ago and saw significant savings in both cost and time compared to a custom build — but Chief Dale Arkenburg said there are compromises.
"There are some things we would do differently on both of these trucks if we would have made them from the ground up instead of taking a demo," Arkenburg said.
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
