Haverhill’s Bradford Fire Station is getting a new ramp and driveway, but its equipment remains ready on a minute’s notice.
Fire Chief Christopher Cesati said the yellow tape across the doors of the station is a bit misleading.
“The concrete work in front of the doors is being done right now. The trucks are stationed out back so there’s still a fully operational station,” he said.
The chief said the driveway itself at the South Main Street station will be repacked and surfaced next.
Progress on building the city’s newest ladder means the Bradford station can also expect its Ladder 4—a backup 2005 KME truck the city purchased used in 2012—to be replaced in the next few months.
Cesati said he recently reviewed progress photographs of the department’s new ladder truck and he expects delivery by the end of the year. He said the cab has been fabricated and sports a shiny aluminum skin ahead of painting. Following the department’s standard rotation, the new ladder is expected to move to the Water Street central station which responds to a higher volume of calls. Ladder 3, now at Water Street, would move to Bradford.
The current work in Bradford builds on remodeling two years ago that saw the addition of a used mobile office trailer to house additional firefighters. Renovation of the $65,000 trailer and construction of a walkway between the back of the fire station and the new quarters, was overseen by then-Lt. Henry Schlothan and undertaken by the firefighters themselves.