Incident Report

Subject:         Alaska – BP Donate 100 - Foot Aerial Platform to Local Fire Department

Date of Email report:  Tue 03/06/2014 07:16

Report Detail:

BP Alaska Fire Chief for Prudhoe Bay Doug Frey and West Lakes Fire and Rescue District Chief Bill Gamble pose for a photo in front of ‘Big Ben’

There’s a lot to like about the gently used 100-foot aerial platform fire truck welcomed to the West Lakes Fire and Rescue fleet during a ceremony Thursday morning.  Two Alaska fire departments were in the running for the surplus BP Alaska fire truck, but the other department bowed out and “Big Ben,” as the truck is dubbed, now rolls with West Lakes Fire, said District Chief Bill Gamble.  “It fills a niche for us,” he said. “Thank you, BP.”

And the price was right. Gamble said a new fire truck with Big Ben’s aerial reach and its 1,500 gallons-a-minute capacity would cost $1.2 million to $1.5 million. The surplus truck is valued at $75,000 to $100,000, he said.  Still, West Lakes’ total cost was a fraction of even the used value of the fire truck. Gamble said acquiring the truck cost less than $3,500 it paid in shipping and transportation charges to have Sourdough Express freight the truck on a flatbed truck from Prudhoe Bay to Wasilla.  Although the truck was shipped new to the North Slope in 1987, Gamble said an inspection by the fleet’s mechanic found the truck to be in great shape.  “The only thing it needed was tires,” he said.  Gamble said this fire truck provides that critical piece of equipment that will help West Lakes maintain its Insurance Service Office rating.  “The timing was great,” he said. “It’s a great addition for us.”

While West Lakes presently has a ISO 5 rating, during the last rating cycle, an evaluation team from the Insurance Service Office noted the increase in the number of large, commercial buildings in the department’s 92-square-mile coverage area and told the department it needed to add apparatus that could deliver water effectively to a large, multi-story structure fire.  Another factor in maintaining the current ISO rating is the addition of a sixth fire station in its coverage area, the one at Mile 52, Parks Highway.  Big Lake-area Rep. Mark Neuman was at the handing-over ceremony Thursday morning at Station 71, Mile 2.2, Pittman Road. He said low ISO ratings equal savings on individuals’ homeowners insurance.  Chief Gamble said a tanker truck Rep. Neuman helped fund through a legislative appropriation a couple of years ago has already paid for itself many times over through insurance savings to the community when it helped reduce West Lakes’ ISO from 8B to 5.  He said the annual savings in reduced insurance premiums to the community is roughly equal to what it cost taxpayers to fund West Lakes Fire.

This legislative cycle, Rep. Neuman included $2.37 million in the state capital budget for that new fire station at Mile 52.  Gamble said so far they have about $5.1 million of its estimated $8.5 million cost. He said they’ve already purchased 9.2 acres off Spring Road behind an existing temporary station that will house the new station.  West Lakes learned May 23 that Big Ben’s new home would be in Meadow Lakes. Since then, the truck’s been repainted red, had the West Lakes logo added and a new set of tires installed.

The words “Big Ben” painted just behind the driver’s door will stay as a tribute to ARCO and BP. 

Doug Frey, who lives in the Valley and works in Prudhoe Bay as the fire chief for BP Alaska, shared the story of how Big Ben got its name.  After the central gas facility was built in the mid-1980s, there was nothing on the North Slope that was tall enough to protect that asset if it caught fire, he said. So fire crews made ARCO and BP aware of the problem. But a bit of an internal tug of war over which fire department had the biggest truck slowed the acquisition, Frey said.  Fire crews eventually broke the impasse by taking ARCO’s then Vice President of Operations, Ben Odom, to the training facility in Anchorage and demonstrating for him the difference between a 75-foot ladder and a 100-foot ladder in fighting fire in tall structures.  Odom was sold and signed off for ARCO to purchase the rig on its own. 

In his honor, the rig was dubbed “Big Ben.”  For now, Station 81 has been modified to hold the giant. But when the new West Lakes station is constructed, Big Ben will move in there.

Additional Documentation: