Fire Dept. sounds alarm over fire truck

03/21/2008

By: Tristram DeRoma , Bard Editor

The Town Council, the mayor and the fire department are currently scrambling to find a way to quickly replace a 17-year-old fire engine that firefighters who use it say is long past its prime. Known as "Engine 2," the engine is based out of the Huntington Fire Station near Bunnell High School.

On some occasions firefighters said at a recent public hearing before Council, it wouldn't even start. And even if it did, the engine (the second one in the truck's lifetime) could go at any moment.

"It has 113,727 miles on it, which isn't a lot for a big diesel engine, but it is for a vehicle that weighs 42,980 pounds" said firefighter Jim Rose at the meeting.

And even if the truck, which includes a ladder and a 500 gallon tank of water gets to its destination there's a risk that it may not be able to do what it was intended to do, save lives and put out fires.

Firefighters also said at the meeting that the water tank is leaking and rust has eaten through the compartments where the heart defibrillators and other lifesaving equipment is kept. The leaking water from the tank also is corroding the chassis of the truck, firefighters said. There's also erosion in the ladder's critical welds.

Pictures detailing the problems were given to the Town Council members by Fire Union Local 998 President Ken Lantowsky.

"Judging by the pictures," I'd say this truck is done," said Councilman William "JR" Stroomer, R-7.

Before the meeting, Councilwoman Amy Wanamaker, D-6, prepared a resolution authorizing emergency bonding for another truck. She said she was alerted to the problem by firefighters living in her district.

"They told me about a call to a fire on Broadbridge Avenue," said Wanamaker. "They loaded all the equipment on and then got into the truck to head out to the fire, it wouldn't start." They immediately switched to their backup - a truck that is 30 years old.

Wanamaker urged her fellow council members to act on the resolution "Seconds in response time can mean the difference between life and death and also impact the value of your property," she said.

Wanamaker said she was also startled to learn that several years ago, another Town Council asked the fire department (under then-chief John Natrass) to submit a 10-year plan to Council that would serve as a sort of "layaway" plan for the Fire Department's big purchases. However, for whatever reason, budgetary priorities, politics or both, the plan was never funded in the budget.

And now here they were.

"The average age of our firetrucks is fairly old, about 12 years," said Wanamaker, warning of more problems to come. "If we would have properly funded that plan, then what would have happened is the engine we are talking about would have been moved off from being the everyday response truck to being a backup truck."

She added that the town funds the department used to keep Engine 2 going, which is now on its second engine and has gone through numerous repair jobs, could have been put toward the purchase of a new truck.

"We now have a truck that's not working and its backup truck was made in 1978," Wanamaker said. "If we would have enacted the 10-year plan, we would have saved so much money."

The problem now is, according to Fire Chief John Cybart, who also spoke at the meeting, the process of acquiring a new firetruck takes about a year.

Wanamaker's plan was to take the money from a ready source, such as the General Fund, with the provision council would bond for it later. According to officials, a new, fully-equipped truck would cost the town about $435,000. While that's being done, Wanamaker said town council can also start looking for a solution that will fix the fundamental problem- a townwide deterioration of the town's fleet of emergency vehicles that beginning to threaten the well-being and safety of Stratford's residents and property.

"The police department is suffering from the same problem, ...we need to do something now." she said.

The council tabled the resolution, but instructions were also given to Cybart by the mayor and the council to look for a used truck that could serve their purposes until the town could acquire a new truck. The idea being that if the used truck will eventually be used as a backup to the new truck.