UPDATED: In information provided in an email Tuesday from North Lincoln Fire & Rescue spokesman Jim Kusz, Maintenance Division Chief Dave McKee said the smoke seen from the ladder truck was from oil leaking into the exhaust.
There was no fire and the belief this morning is that oil leaked into the turbo unit, producing the smoke seen coming from the truck.
Ladder 57 is out of service until repairs can be made.
Previous coverage:
A North Lincoln Fire & Rescue ladder truck returned to the station Monday night billowing white smoke that clouded downtown traffic near the Dorchester House before catching fire at the Inn at Spanish Head.
“Something blew,” a firefighter said. “We heard something blow off. We lost all power, so we pulled over at Dorchester.
“We had a ton of white smoke coming out. You couldn’t see anything behind us all the way through town. It was a big driving hazard for everyone else on the road.
“We just got to the top of the hill by the Inn at Spanish Head when we heard another pop and there was fire coming from the officer’s side. We stopped and shut it off again. There was oil everywhere.”
Just another reason the fire chief should be let go….Just keep driving it to the farthest station away from where it had problems is wher he said it needed to go. It caused a restaurant to vacate and several people to be pushed off the raod due to visibility. Yet the idiot Chief thought it was better to take the truck to the furthest station away…..Oh my….just the latest in stupid choices. Nice move Dahlman. Time for you to go.
Driving it to the station where it can be fixed once. Is better than taking it to the closest station and THEN moving it again which would have been even further away. Duh! When your car has a problem dont you take it to where it will be fixed? Rather than say take it home then drive it again to the auto shop. Get real guys…sensationalism headlines to cause trouble? Is it really necessary?
for the record, it then got TOWED to Tillamook for repairs. not sure who was in the full decision making process, but I have had times when I tried to get a malfunctioning car “home” and I have had times when I stopped and called for a tow, and about 50% of the time, it has been the wrong decision. I’m sure the people involved made what they thought was the best decision, and while I wouldn’t have made the same decision, I also have the benefit of hindsight.