New ladder truck turns easier, driver says

Driving the Tribe’s new $1.5 million aerial ladder truck is much easier than a smaller truck they retired, says Sgt. Marco Patrick of the Choctaw Fire Department.

A Sebastopol native and a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Patrick decided to become a firefighter while attending Sebastopol Attendance Center and began volunteering for the Sebastopol Volunteer Fire Department, which he still does. 

When he is not firefighting, Patrick enjoys riding horses and takes part in competitions called ranch sorting throughout the Southeast. Ranch Sorting is an event that pits a team of two riders on horseback against the clock.

Much like firefighting, ranch sorting requires teamwork, a key with both riders working in harmony to cut out the correct cattle and drive them to the pen while keeping the wrong numbered cattle back. 

The new truck, a Rosenbauer T-Rex, is one of the state’s largest and has a better turn radius and more advanced controls than the previous truck, said Patrick, who jointed the department in 2016.

Driving the T-Rex can be intimidating at first due to the weight and water on the truck. Although he got the hang of driving the large truck fairly quickly, he still uses caution when making wide turns and quick stops. 

“For me, getting to drive the T-Rex and protecting the people of this community is the best part of working for this department,” he said. “Having it is such a great asset in case anything happens.”   

The department purchased the new truck in 2019 replacing a truck they’d got around the time the Golden Moon was built.  

Phil Pickle, director of the Choctaw Fire Department, said the T-Rex is a bit unusual for a mostly rural area, but they have the high rises at the Pearl River Resort.

Jackson, Meridian and cities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast have ladder trucks of comparable size. Philadelphia’s ladder truck is comparable to the Tribe’s old truck.

“Places that have multi-story hotels and different things that is where they would have to have them,” Pickle said. “A lot different factors would go into it, gallons per minute and the length of the ladder.”

The T-Rex, replaced a 1998 model E-ONE 105 HD ladder truck the Choctaw Fire Department purchased in 1999. 

The T-Rex has more features, such as a telescopic boom, a 300-gallon water tank, hose bed and 115 feet of ground ladders, and it handles much better than the older truck, Patrick agreed. 

The T-Rex has an articulate extension ladder that can go over trees and walls, a proximity sensor that lets operators know they’re getting too close to an obstacle, a memory system that brings the platform back up to a previous position after bringing people to the ground and wind speed sensors. 

“We are a pretty rural area, but any time you have multiple buildings that are several stories tall, the state rating bureau recommends you have a ladder truck,” Pickle said. “They don’t require you to have one, but it’s good for your insurance and people’s safety.” 

The T-Rex truck is designed to fight fires, rescue people in danger, or do both simultaneously. It needs at least two men to operate. One person works at the ladder and the other stays at the fire controls. He noted that a team of at least four men is most optimal.

Before Philadelphia had its own ladder truck the, the Choctaw’s old E-ONE helped save Philadelphia High School in March 2006. 

They also rescued a man who became stranded when he was washing windows at the Golden Moon Casino in 2010.

The old E-ONE is for sale at the Bonaventure Fire and Safety Facility in Monticello for $75,000, said Donnie Weeks, territorial manager for the company.

Weeks said the T-Rex is a top-notch state-of-the-art truck that will serve the Choctaws for the next two decades.