Despite having to work out a few bugs, Lake Havasu City Fire Department’s newest fire truck, Truck No. 1, survived its first year of service.

Jayne Hanson/News-Herald Photo Lake Havasu City firefighters talk about some of the tools the fire truck is equipped with Oct. 12 outside Fire Station No. 1. Pictured from left, firefighter Lonnie Pope, firefighter/paramedic Larry Colella and fire Captain Scott Green.

“There were some mechanical and electrical stuff that needed fine tuning. There are a lot of intricate moving parts,” said fire captain Scott Green. The truck receives daily, weekly and monthly service checks by the crews.

The vehicle is a 42-foot quint ladder truck equipped with a water pump, a tank that holds 480 gallons of water, stores 1,000 feet of hose, ground ladders and a 110-foot aerial ladder, according to the fire captain.

When a truck is purchased, it comes as a shell. It is up to the department just how it should be outfitted to its needs in order to best serve the community. For example, a specially fabricated slide-out tray was fashioned specifically for Truck No. 1’s tools.

The truck is utilized as a multi-functional company within the department and has the ability to fight fires because it has the pump, tank and hose providing a considerable cost savings to the city, Green explained.

The truck’s traditional roles are search and rescue, forcible entry, vertical ventilation, positive pressure ventilation as well as salvage and overhaul duties.

“The outcome of any fire scene is dependent upon the efficiency of the truck company because of its duties,” Green said.

Every fire scene is set up in a military-type structure that includes calculated and coordinated cooperation between fire crews and a very centralized command. Each of the teams has its role and nothing is done without risk analysis, he said.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.