Saturday I had the honor to attend a Ribbon Cutting and Dedication at the Ilion Fire Department, celebrating their new ladder truck and the addition built onto their firehouse to hold it. I was there to cover it for Sentinel Media, but I am a huge fan of fire departments, so I was happy to be there.
A pretty impressive piece of equipment.
The ladder truck, which replaces a 2003 vehicle, is state of the art and comes at a bargain price. It seems another fire department ordered it, then the financing fell through. The Village of Ilion was able to purchase it for some $1.55 million as opposed to $2.4 million. However, the truck would not fit in the firehouse, which was originally built in 1929. The building has already been modified just about as many times as is feasible, necessitating the addition.
I guess it doesn’t match, but what are you going to do?
The new truck was dedicated to Deputy Chief Larry DelGrego, who served from 1992 until his death from cancer in June of 2024. Fire Chief Andrew Monahan gave a moving speech about Larry, or Larzy as some called him.
In case you thought ribbon cutting was just an expression.
The Village Board of Trustees was on hand, as well as representatives of Herkimer Next. I chatted with a few people, most notably with some firefighters. I got an open invitation to stop by the firehouse and chat some more, as long as the door was open and they were between calls. Maybe I can hear more about their fancy new fire truck.
Mohawk Valley Girl 