Thanks to a very generous federal grant, the city of St. Pete Beach and the St. Pete Fire Department recently added an E-ONE HP 78 ladder to their very active fleet.

Serving 10,000 people on the weekdays and upwards of 30,000 people on the weekends along with 62 high rise buildings, St. Pete Beach’s 27 firefighters stay busy with a variety of calls. When configuring their new aerial, versatility was key.

“What was most crucial to us when ordering this aerial was the unit’s flexibility to respond to everything from fire to rescue to extrication to EMS and beyond,” said St. Pete Beach Fire Chief Dan Graves. “There are two critical components of this aerial design – the ALS cabinets with the A/C unit and automatic locks and the enhanced ergonomics of the roll out trays and tool boards. But the most critical feature on the aerial definitely is the ALS compartment behind the cab which allows us to keep critical medical supplies safely locked away and stored at required temperatures.”

The St. Pete Beach Fire Department originally chose E-ONE because they preferred the design of the ladder which offered a shorter wheelbase than other bidders, but Chief Graves’ said the E-ONE experience has been second to none.

“We’ve had a great experience with E-ONE, but especially with Steve Kern, our sales representative from Hall-Mark Fire. From beginning to end, he walked us through the entire process and took his time to go over everything from the pre-build, to the mid-point inspection and today during the final,” said Chief Graves. “And the punch list today during the final inspection was significantly less than trucks we’ve purchased from other manufacturers.”

To learn more about E-ONE aerial products or to find your local dealer, visit www.E-ONE.com.

As a leading manufacturer of first responder vehicles, E-ONE engineers, manufactures mission-critical vehicles including custom and commercial pumpers tankers, Water Master vacuum tankers, aerial ladders and platforms, command and communication apparatus, quick attack units, industrial trucks, and aircraft rescue firefighting vehicles. The company sells its products world-wide and is headquartered in Ocala, Florida. E-ONE is an ISO 9001 registered and CCC certified manufacturer. For more information, visit www.e-one.com.