
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 16, 1994                   TAG: 9406210086
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THINGS LOOK UP FOR FIREHOUSE

Atop the 100-foot ladder at Fire Station No.1, there was a perfect view of Roanoke, haze and all. Wednesday morning, as the day's heat was settling over the Roanoke Valley, city firefighters climbed the height of their new half-million-dollar ladder truck, trying it out before spectators and local officials.

"Should disaster ever strike, the Roanoke Fire Department, with its trained staff and new equipment, will stand ready to assist us and come to our aid," said Mayor David Bowers, who addressed those at the firehouse ceremony on Church Avenue.

The purchase of the new truck is part of the city's effort to update equipment for fire, police and rescue. In the past three years, the city has bought another ladder truck and five pumpers for other fire stations, at a cost of about $1.5 million.

The new truck replaces a Seagrave ladder truck that was bought for the station in 1968 and now will be used as backup equipment.

"This is a critical station for a piece of ladder equipment," said Public Safety Director George C. Snead. "This station has the most high-rise buildings; it's got the central business district and the oldest street patterns that make it difficult for a straight truck to maneuver through."

On average, the Church Avenue fire station handles about 1,200 calls a year - about four a day - making it one of the busiest stations in the city, officials say. The red-brick, three-story structure opened in 1906 and is the oldest active firehouse in the country.

It still sports replicas of the front doors that once swung open for horse-drawn engines. Bite marks from the horses remain along the brick walls.

Wednesday, as spectators craned their necks for a better view, firefighters deployed both old and new ladder trucks. While the old truck can reach 80 feet, the new one goes 20 feet higher. While it used to take two firefighters to secure the ladder, it now takes only one. And while a hose once was rolled up the ladder, it is now an incorporated feature.

For many of the fire cadets, who graduated Tuesday from the city's first high-school fire cadet program, it was a chance to see the new piece of equipment up close and personal. This summer, the cadets will shadow city firefighters on a volunteer basis, hoping to gain some practical experience and a couple of trips up the ladder.

For Kevin Austin, 18, a fire cadet and senior at William Fleming High School, the new ladder truck was ``a whole lot better."

by CNB