By Shawn P. Sullivan
Sanford News
SANFORD, N.H. — The Sanford Fire Department has a new ladder truck — but it’s not called Ladder 2 after the reserve one it is replacing. It’s called Ladder 37.
Seems random, at first glance. After all, the department has just two such trucks. Where does the 37 come from? For the answer, turn to the truck’s previous owner — and then turn to a tragic day in American history. The Sanford Fire Department purchased the aerial truck from the Tarrytown Fire Department in New York. Tarrytown firefighters called it “Ladder 37,” after the truck went to New York City to cover for FDNY’s Ladder 37 after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
“We’re going to keep the ‘Ladder 37’ and call it that,” Fire Chief Jeffrey Rowe said earlier this week. “There’s some history behind it, and now we have that history here.”
Full story: Fire department’s new truck has historic appeal