American LaFrance is closing its Ephrata manufacturing plant due to plunging sales, idling 200 workers, a company official said today.
The 64 Cocalico Creek Road plant is expected to produce its last aerial fire truck by mid June, said plant manager Jim Inman.
"Our sales volume is way off from what it was. It's probably half of what it was a couple of years ago," he said.
A representative from American LaFrance's corporate headquarters in Summerville, S.C., made the announcement at the local plant Monday.
The local plant produces fire trucks that have aerial ladders reaching as high as 110 feet. The trucks cost from $500,000 to $1 million.
But demand has fallen sharply, as the recession has tightened its grip on the national economy.
Inman said when he started working at the Ephrata plant three years ago, the site was producing nearly 100 trucks annually. Last year, it produced just 50.
To cope with the declining sales, American LaFrance had been putting some of the local workers on temporary furlough, he said.
But with no turnaround in sight, the plant now will close.
"It's a real shame," said Inman. "We build the best aerials in the industry."
The plant manager lauded the facility's work force, praising them as "very dedicated, very loyal and extremely skilled craftsmen."
"I would think the local community would line up to hire these people," he added.
American LaFrance has struggled financially in recent years, entering and emerging from bankruptcy reorganization in 2008.
The company came here about 10 years ago by occupying the former Simon Ladder Towers site.
At that West Earl Township property, south of Akron, American LaFrance leases four buildings totaling 125,000 square feet.
American LaFrance also announced the closing of its fire truck manufacturing plant in Hamburg, N.Y. Production from Ephrata and Hamburg will be shifted to its plant in Summerville.
A corporate spokesman, Richard Ball, said the company's main customers are government agencies which are suffering from a decline in tax revenue due to the recession. The reduced revenue causes them to order fewer fire trucks.
Staff writer Tim Mekeel can be reached at tmekeel@LNPnews.com or 481-6030. 
