EARLY – The Early Fire Department on Monday morning took possession of its first-ever ladder truck from the Huntley, Illinois Fire Protection District, delivered by Crossbar Logistics Trucking.

Purchased for $639,000, Ladder 8 – the Aerial Apparatus Spartan Gladiator which arrived shortly after 8 a.m. – features a 103-foot ladder, a 2,000 gallons per minute pump, and holds 500 gallons of water. The purchase price is well below that of new firetrucks of similar design, which are in the $2 million range.

“This is a first of the City of Early, making history and moving forward,” said Early Fire Chief Chad Hill. “I want to thank the mayor and the councilmen and (City Administrator) Tony (Aaron) for making this happen. Now we can provide a better service for the citizens of Early.”

Aaron, along with council members Benny Allcorn and Travis Eoff, a former fire chief at Early himself, were among the approximately 50 people on hand for the arrival.

“It’s been needed for a while and having the ladder truck and ability to deploy that apparatus when needed is going to make our community safer and our firefighters will be able to fight fires more efficiently,” Aaron said. “We hope we don’t have to use it, but we know we’re going to need to and now we have it.”

Eoff added, “It’s something we’ve needed for a long time. Even when I was chief we were looking for one, but as far as ISO ratings go, it wouldn’t have helped us any and now it will. A lot of people think you use it to get up above a fire and spray water down on it, and that is the main purpose, but it can also used for rescue or several different things. It’s a great addition to what we already have.”

Allcorn, also the Mayor Pro-Tem, said, “It’s significant in the fact that we’re doing so good in Early and the future stands so good. It’s a good start for what we plan to come.”

The plan is for the new ladder truck to be in service within two weeks, Hill said.