Royal Oak Fire Department upgrades fleet with King Cobra aerial truck

ROYAL OAK — The Royal Oak Fire Department soon will be fighting fires using its brand-new Rosenbauer King Cobra aerial truck. 

The truck was delivered to the Royal Oak Fire Station #1, 215 E. Sixth St., on Jan. 16. It is built with lightweight aluminum and fully equipped with a 101-foot bucket ladder, and it is replacing a 20-year-old straight ladder truck.

A bucket ladder truck is equipped with a large, extendable platform at the top of the ladder that can hold multiple firefighters and allows for maximized maneuverability. 

Jim Cook, chief of the Royal Oak Fire Department, said that this truck is going to be very helpful in different situations, mentioning the advantage it gives firefighters when trying to extinguish a fire that is in a building with multiple floors. 

“If we have a commercial fire, you can have two guys up there to see it more, directing the nozzle a little better,” he said. “You have a lot more flexibility, because you are kind of controlling everything from up in the air, if you will.”

With the straight stick ladder in the old truck, only one person would be going up the ladder, and when they climbed up, they would just be in one place. 

“It’s always good to have a bucket ladder truck, especially when it comes to commercial buildings; our ground ladders only get up 35 feet,” Cook said. “These newer and bigger homes in the city are well beyond what our ground ladders would touch, so the bucket ladders can actually get us up over the fire if we have to.”

The Fire Department had to wait more than two years following the unanimous approval of the purchase at the City Commission meeting on Aug. 8, 2022. The truck was budgeted at a cost of $1.7 million, which was taken from the motor pool fund. 

“Having modern equipment is important to keep our community and firefighters safe,” said Judy Davids, Royal Oak community engagement specialist. “The special features of this truck will help firefighters work faster and more efficiently during emergencies, and that will help save lives and protect our homes. We want to make sure our city is ready for anything.”

Cook said a truck committee went over multiple manufacturers, the features the department was looking for, and spoke with the manufacturers to see what was the best fit for the Royal Oak Fire Department. 

The committee ultimately landed on the Rosenbauer King Cobra aerial truck, which is manufactured by the same company that has manufactured the department’s three frontline trucks, three fire engines, two ladder trucks and three ambulances. 

Cook said the truck won’t actually be operated until the end of February, because the firefighters will have to learn the equipment first. Rosenbauer is going to be coming in at some point to show the firefighters the ropes, and then the crew is going to outfit the vehicle. 

“We can’t put this truck to service until we outfit it. We got to put more gear on it, so just because we have it doesn't mean we’re running fires on it today,” he said. “We got to put a hose on it, shelving units … there’s a little bit of a process.”

Firefighters at the Royal Oak Fire Department will also be trained on how to drive the vehicle, as it is a bit different than the previous vehicles because of the bucket that is located above the windshield. 

“This is like a brand-new toy to a bunch of kids — everybody is excited about it,” Cook said. “It pretty much updates all of our equipment, all of our engines, frontline engines, ambulances, and our ladder trucks are now all from 2020 or newer.”