Traverse City Fire Department Nears Delivery of Long-Awaited Ladder Truck

The Traverse City Fire Department's ladder truck has logged 22 years of service. When a fire breaks out in one of the multi-story buildings along Front Street, or in a hotel filled with the summer crowds that descend on the city each season, that aging apparatus is what responds. The replacement is finally in production.

The department is approaching delivery of a $1.88 million ladder truck being built at Pierce Manufacturing in Wisconsin, three years after placing the order. "We've had it for a number of years now, and it's about due to be replaced," Captain Steve Ball said.

The multi-year wait traces to a nationwide procurement crunch. State grants and American Rescue Plan Act funds prompted departments across northern Michigan, including Grand Traverse Metro, to order new apparatus in a compressed window, overwhelming manufacturers and driving lead times up sharply. "We started this three years ago, so it takes that long now to get a piece of equipment like this built," Ball said. The ladder truck, he noted, is "a very, very specific piece of apparatus."

Grand Traverse County faces the same timeline. Both departments began their replacements years ago, and delivery for each is expected by fall, after which both plan to sell their outgoing trucks.

The backlog has quietly reshaped procurement across the region. Unable to wait years for new builds, or unwilling to absorb rising costs, fire departments across northern Michigan have increasingly turned to the growing market for used fire trucks instead.