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AERIAL DEVICE JUSTIFICATION <br /> The “old school “rule governing whether a fire department required an aerial device, or not, <br />was based on when the portable ground ladders within a fire department would no longer <br />reach the upper windows or the roof of buildings in the community, then an aerial device <br />was needed. <br /> It typically takes three or more firefighters to raise and place a long ground ladder. <br /> If at any given time a department has insufficient personnel to achieve this task safely and <br />without exposure to injury, while issuing an attack and laying out hose lines, then an aerial <br />device is needed. <br /> Terrain and landscape oddities may make it impossible for firefighters to gain access to two- <br />or three-story structures with ground ladders <br /> Rescue operations from a second or third story window from a ladder is extremely <br />dangerous to the victim as well as the firefighters <br /> Communities with historic downtowns, large square footage buildings, such as warehouses, <br />large department stores, etc. require a safe means of delivery fire suppression from an <br />elevated position. <br /> Interior operations in older buildings are prone to earlier collapse, aerial operations offer us a <br />chance to safely ventilate these structures. <br /> New homes are 30% larger in size than what was being built prior to 2009 (We do not have 1200 <br />sq ft ranch houses anymore. <br /> The Fire service needs to grow with the community <br /> <br /> <br />ISO BENEFITS <br /> <br /> A citation from Section 540 of the Insurance Services Office (ISO) Fire Suppression Rating <br />Schedule specifically states, “Response areas with 5 buildings that are 3 stories or 35 feet or <br />more in height, or \[have\] 5 buildings that have a Needed Fire Flow greater than 3,500 gpm, or <br />any combination of these criteria, should have a ladder company." <br /> To receive the highest points in an ISO evaluation for ladder service, the ladder unit must reach <br />the roof of the tallest building in its service area or be one hundred’ long, whichever is less <br /> <br /> An aerial device can significantly improve a fire district’s ISO rating, lowering a community’s <br />property insurance premiums. <br /> <br /> <br />