Pierce Manufacturing Inc. reported that the Pierce 100-foot medium-duty aerial ladder involved in an accident with the Boston Fire Department on Feb. 20 had been damaged in one or more previous incidents. Pierce believes this damage led to the malfunction.

In response to the accident, Pierce immediately dispatched two aerial engineers who analyzed the ladder and found that there was pre-existing damage to the turntable console that houses the ladder controls. In addition, a new "neutral" position had been hand-written next to the raise/lower control lever on the console, and the linkage on the raise/lower valve was both bent and loose.

According to Pierce, the results of this damage prevented the ladder from maintaining its position when the operator released the control valve after positioning the ladder at the fire scene. In effect, the damaged control system lowered the ladder onto the building, resulting in the damage to the ladder.

Boston Fire Chief Kevin MacCurtain said, "We're extremely pleased with Pierce's assistance on this incident. Their engineers arrived quickly and completed a thorough inspection of our other three Pierce ladder trucks. After hearing the engineers' report, I was confident in putting these ladders back in service, and confident in sending them to respond to a six-alarm fire that night. The Pierce ladders operated flawlessly at the blazing North End fire.

"Based on these inspections and the performance we have experienced with their apparatus, I have all the confidence in the world in Pierce apparatus. Boston Fire Department looks forward to working with Pierce on repairing and returning Ladder 15 to service," MacCurtain continued. Wilson Jones, Pierce vice president of sales and marketing, added, "We are relieved and thankful that no one was injured as a result of this accident. We take any incidents involving our fire apparatus very seriously, because we understand just how critical it is that they perform at all times, and our response to this incident reflected that."