News : Firefighters become better acquainted with aerial truck

Young Devin Selken points to the VFD members training on the aerial ladder truck May 6.

Firefighters trained with the aerial ladder for several hours Thursday evening on Third Street.

VFD members took turns controlling the ladder, reaching windows and the roof during training.

The aerial ladder offers many new tools the VFD can use to fight fires and rescue people.

Devin Selken was fascinated by the firemen ascending to the top of the 100-foot ladder.

Members of the Vinton Fire Department spent a few hours Thursday evening, May 6, learning how to make best use of the ladder on the aerial truck that recently joined the fleet of VFD vehicles.

The department set up the truck near a Third Street home that was damaged in the flood of 2008. They took turns operating the controls of the ladder, as well as climbing it to practice window rescues and other manuevers.

Fire Chief Gary McKenna said that the exercise offered some firefighters their first significant amount of training time on the ladder.

The aerial truck, with its approximately 100-foot ladder, can help firefighters reach windows of burning buildings. It also allows them to get a large volumn of water above virtually every structure in Vinton.