MADERA -- A 75-foot aerial tower truck with a full complement of rescue equipment has arrived in Coarsegold, where it will remain until a new station is built near the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino. 

Truck 8 will be only the second aerial tower/rescue truck in Madera County; truck 7, with its 55-foot metal tower, is stationed in the city of Madera.
The tribe bought the truck but will donate it to the county fire department as part of an agreement to pay fire and sheriff's protection costs for the casino, Division Chief Paul Helm said. 

An orientation is scheduled Wednesday for Madera County and California Department of Forestry firefighters. Training for firefighters who will be assigned to Madera County's new rig will begin next month. Fresno city firefighters trained in aerial/rescue operations are expected to be the instructors. 

The 75-foot rig will be housed at the Coarsegold CDF station until a new facility is completed at Road 417 and Quartz Mountain Road, closer to the casino. The land for that facility was secured last week. 

The used 1992 firetruck was purchased for $210,000 in North Carolina and refurbished for Madera County by an Oakdale-based company, Helm said. Two full-time firefighters will be available around-the-clock for the truck. 

Under an agreement with Madera County, the Chukchansi tribe also will buy a small "quick attack" pumper engine, which will operate from the new station near the casino, CDF Ranger Unit and County Chief Stan Craig said. 

"The permanent home for that will be up there by the casino," Craig said. "That's part of the plan to build a fire station up there." 

But the new aerial/rescue truck also could be sent up Highway 41 to fires in Oakhurst's multistory hotels or down the hill to Children's Hospital Central California. 

It will be subject to service throughout the county as needed, but it probably won't be dispatched on initial response to the hospital, at least 20 minutes away on winding Highway 41. 

"Quite frankly, Fresno's closer," Craig said.
The Fresno Fire Department's Truck 11 no longer answers initial calls to Children's Hospital in Madera County. 

But it remains available just a quick freeway run away if requested under an emergency mutual-aid agreement. 

The reporter can be reached at cmccarthy@fresnobee.com or 675-6804.