Lakeland College has gotten a new ride.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Lloydminster Fire Department (LFD) made the official handoff of their formal aerial truck to the college. The brief ceremony, held at Fire Hall No. 2, was attended by representatives from the college, as well as the municipal government.
The truck had been in use for more than 30 years, and was replaced back in 2015.
“Over the past three decades, this truck has helped protect our community and residents. At the college’s Emergency Training Centre, it will benefit future generations of firefighters as an important training tool,” said Lloydminster Fire Chief Newton, in a prepared statement “In 2015, we were pleased to add a new aerial truck to our fleet, which enhanced our ability to safely attack fires at greater heights. We expect the new aerial truck will serve our community well for another 30 years.”
The donated truck had been built in 1986, and was purchased by the LFD for $360,000.
Speaking after the ceremony, Newton said the donation to Lakeland College was an “easy bet” as the school is part of the Lloydminster area. He also said it would be good that the truck would continue to serve fightfighters, in it’s new role as training equipment at the Emergency Training Centre, located at the Vermilion campus.
As for any quirks in the donated vehicle, Newton said students would “find out”.
“This truck is unique, it is 30 years old,” said Newton.
“There is some finesse to operating it. It’ll be good for the students to learn on.”
As for Lakeland, administration is looking forward to having the truck in use.
“It’ll have a huge impact on the training that we do at Lakeland,” said Michael Crowe, Academic Vice President at Lakeland College.
“All of our training is really hands on, and applied, and without equipment like this, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.”