The Comox Valley community is invited to the unveiling of the new aerial ladder fire truck (Tower 35) at a ceremony and open house on May 24 at the Comox Fire Hall.

Comox Mayor Nicole Minions and Fire Chief Gord Schreiner will be speaking at the event.

The public is welcome to an open house and truck demo from 2 to 4 p.m., with a formal welcome and special dedication from 4 to 5 p.m.

The new fire truck will be dedicated to John Marinus, an active community member who volunteered on numerous projects in the Comox Valley.

He served for several years on the Rotary and was known as the 鈥渢he Ducky Guy鈥� for his role in selling Ducky 500 tickets every year. He served on Comox council for five consecutive terms as councillor and 37 years for Comox Fire Rescue.

The new fire truck, Tower 35, has a reach of 110鈥� and features a three-person platform bucket on the end of the ladder. The new platform allows victims to be lowered to the ground two or three at a time, which is safer and more efficient for the firefighters.

The aerial has an elevated water stream of 1,000 gallons of water per minute. The truck also features a built-in idle system, equipment that operates with rechargeable batteries, and 鈥榗rew protect,鈥� a multi-threat air filtration system designed to clean cabin air.

Comox Fire Rescue provides a various preventative and emergency services to the Town of Comox and the Comox Fire Protection Improvement District, the Bates/Huband Local Service Area and K鈥櫭砿oks First Nation.