The Hollywood Park Fire Department debuted its newest vehicle to residents May 15, a 40-foot-long ladder truck that HPFD officials said will give firefighters more flexibility and safety in responding to service calls.

The fire department hosted a public event at the fire station, giving city leaders and community members an up-close view of the new fire truck, whose ladder can extend up to 100 feet.

According to specifications for the custom designed fire truck, the vehicle measures 10 feet high and carries 300 gallons of water.

Fire Chief John Butrico said Wisconsin-based Pierce Manufacturing, which specializes in building fire trucks, constructed HPFD’s newest vehicle at a cost of $1.6 million. The truck arrived in Hollywood Park in early April.

The new vehicle replaces the fire department’s 21-year-old truck that had a 75-foot ladder, and will be used to mainly service Hollywood Park’s commercial sectors, and respond to heavy and water rescues and auto crashes.

Butrico said the new fire truck has a bucket at the end of the ladder, something the HPFD’s previous ladder truck did not have.

“This truck has all the safety features that we could possibly get,” Butrico said. “This is going to provide a lot more safety for our guys.”

As part of the event, HPFD personnel raised and rotated the truck’s ladder, and then backed the vehicle into the fire station bay, which the city extended by 10 feet in 2022 to accommodate the new truck.

“We wanted to more room for our equipment and away from where the guys sleep,” Butrico said.