Orange County Fire Rescue’s New Rescue Unit Dedicated to Fallen Firefighter
Orange County Fire Rescue recently placed Truck 30 into service and retired the former unit to serve the growing population and visitors of west Orange County.
A dedication ceremony was held at Orange County Fire Rescue Station 30 in January to announce the service of the new front run Fire Rescue truck. More importantly, the ceremony remembered the life of fallen firefighter Carl Andriano, who lost his life to cancer at the young age of 24 on February 8, 2014.
The intimate ceremony included Station 30’s first shift crew members, senior management and Andriano’s family members. Andriano was an Orange County Fire Rescue Honorary Lieutenant who was assigned to Station 30 until he could no longer work as a result of his life-threatening diagnosis.
The ceremony began with an invocation and opening remarks from Orange County Fire Chief Otto Drozd III.
“We pray God will bless the Truck 30 crew and that Carl will guide our brave men and women as they lay their lives on the line each day,” Chief Drozd said during the ceremony. “He will always be remembered by his brothers and sisters at Orange County Fire Rescue.”
Truck 30 is equipped with a 95-inch aerial platform that holds 300 gallons of water for suppression efforts. The unit is also designed to support other specialty rescues such as high angle and rope rescue. This is one of eight aerial units that service Orange County. In honor of Andriano, a custom plaque is mounted on Truck 30 that includes a powerful message – 30 STRONG.
The retired unit was originally placed into service in January 2004. It ran 18,836 calls for service, including 9,656 Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and 9,180 Fire Rescue calls during its tenure.
For more information on recruitment at Fire and Rescue, visit Orange County’s web site. Citizens are also encouraged to follow @OCFireRescue on Twitter for breaking news and updates from Orange County’s Fire Rescue Public Information Office.