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New Albany fire truck too heavy for old station

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Why wasn't this discovered in the planning process?

Albany finds new fire pumper weighs too much for its home

City fire officials are dealing with a weighty problem.

Albany's brand-new 750-gallon pumper truck is too heavy for the floor of the 122-year-old fire station it was supposed to call home.

That troubling discovery came hand in hand with another one: The 10-year-old truck it is replacing is also too heavy for the station -— and has been for some time.


http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/New-Albany-fire-truck-too-heavy-for-old-station-5607519.php#photo-6570190

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these old fire houses cant handle the weight of the new rigs.its not the old days.

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Very common problem that often is overlooked. Older stations are simply not able to accommodate current apparatus. There should really be a check off with either or both the truck committee and the manufacturers to make sure the specified apparatus is capable of being housed in the designated firehouse. If not, costs to retrofit the station need to be taken into account in the total cost for a new apparatus.

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Some of the comments have been assuming that this is the fault of the apparatus spec committee, but I have seen a couple of other issues out there.

I know a number of depts. that have made it clear to their City, town, village or Board of Commissioners that the new truck they will need in a few years will have a problem and the house needs to be modified before that point. This is often ignored. In this case the existing 10 year old truck is too heavy, so how long has this been an issue? I bet for 10 years, so its hard to blame the current committee or the apparatus manufacturer.

I have seen a few depts. that have bought rigs knowing they would not fit, with the hope that the committee would then replace the fire house. In some cases this worked, but it often meant the rig was under a tarp for 2 or 3 years rotting while the house was fixed/replaced.

In Conn. it is the law that each bay have a max weight rating. In NYS just load it up till it collapses.

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Barry I remember many a night in bed at night in station 1 overnight when the rigs were backing in upstairs. The sounds the ceiling made as the trucks entered the bay had me in fear I would be crushed. No idea what the weight rating was and how close it was to the weight it had to bear, but the cracking noise was impressive.

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Barry I remember many a night in bed at night in station 1 overnight when the rigs were backing in upstairs. The sounds the ceiling made as the trucks entered the bay had me in fear I would be crushed. No idea what the weight rating was and how close it was to the weight it had to bear, but the cracking noise was impressive.

And they still haven't crashed into the ambulance quarters, you were there about 15 years ago?

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This wasn't overlooked by the apparatus committee, this rig was designed to go to a different firehouse with a solid floor. The new administration has other plans for it...

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Barry I remember many a night in bed at night in station 1 overnight when the rigs were backing in upstairs. The sounds the ceiling made as the trucks entered the bay had me in fear I would be crushed. No idea what the weight rating was and how close it was to the weight it had to bear, but the cracking noise was impressive.

I thought about this too every single night in EMT class in the basement.

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This wasn't overlooked by the apparatus committee, this rig was designed to go to a different firehouse with a solid floor. The new administration has other plans for it...

Brevator rig was the last screw up wasn't it? Back in 97? I remember seeing that brand new rig parked out front numerous times.

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