If it could talk, Gettysburg Fire Department's Truck No. 1 could tell a lot of stories.

The 100-foot ladder truck responded to fires at The Pub, the Gettysburg Hotel and, in January 2007, a Chambersburg Street house. It has made up one half of the crossed-ladder arch at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Md.

And because it was the first ladder truck in Adams County when it was purchased in 1977, Truck No. 1 has been to fires all over the area, said Gettysburg Fire Department Capt. Allen Baldwin.

"It ran from border to border," he said. "It's probably been at most of the major fires in the county, and even to big fires in Hanover and Emmitsburg."

Earlier this year, Truck No. 1, a Seagrave ladder truck, was retired after 30 years of service because of problems with its hydraulic outriggers, which extend out to balance the truck when the ladder is raised, Baldwin said.

According to Southeastern Adams Volunteer Emergency Services Chief Andrew Weaver, in 1998 Truck No. 1 became the second responding ladder truck in the eastern part of Adams County when the former McSherrystown Fire Co. bought its 75-foot ladder truck, Quint 29.

And Truck No. 1 was the biggest ladder truck in the county until late 2006, when New Oxford Fire Co. bought their Pierce Dash, a 105-foot ladder truck.

Baldwin said the number of ladder trucks in the county is a response to the population increase.

"As the areas in the county developed, the need for ladder trucks increased," he said.

To replace Truck No. 1, Gettysburg Fire Department looked long and hard at the current market, but ended up going back to Seagrave, Baldwin said.

"There's been a lot of changes in 30 years (to ladder trucks), but Seagrave was the best for the community," he said. "You have design changes, much more compartment room and room for six people inside the cab, seat-belted in."

Only four people could ride inside Truck No. 1, Baldwin said.

Also the new ladder truck will hold upgraded equipment.

"(Ground) ladders are stored on the truck differently," Baldwin said. "There's also room for expansion if our needs change. We left room so the truck's not overloaded."

The 2007 Seagrave, which cost $700,000, will be delivered between late November and early December, Baldwin said.

But until the new truck arrives, Quint 1, a 75-foot ladder truck owned by the department, will fill in.

Every time there was a structure fire, Truck No. 1 was called out, Baldwin said. With the number of calls Gettysburg receives ever increasing, the new ladder truck will be busy.

"We did over 600 calls last year," Baldwin said of the total number of fire and ambulance calls. "If we keep it at the rate we're going, we'll outpace it this year."

Contact Sean Hilliard at shilliard@eveningsun.com.