The Sedona Fire District’s 2007 Sutphen 100-foot aerial ladder truck has hit a bump in the road.

The $847,000 truck was pulled out of commission until a faulty pulley system can be repaired on the vehicle’s ladder assembly. The truck was taken out of service Sept. 7 while third-party tests were performed on the assembly.

The ladder truck could be out of use for approximately two weeks, according to Sedona Fire District Fire Chief Kris Kazian. A contractor is expected to repair the pulleys connected to the ladder within the next two weeks.

“There was a failure in a fire district in southern Arizona. They had the same ladder truck,” Kazian said. “They purchased theirs a year after ours. There was a failure of their ladder truck during a public education type of event. They had a significant failure where people were hurt and hospitalized. Our staff grew concerned because the mechanisms involved in our repair and that failure seemed eerily similar.”

The truck was taken offline while the district waited for testing of the equipment, he said.

For the full story, see the Friday, Oct. 5, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.