The city council on Tuesday voted 5-1 to spend $975,000 on a new truck for Columbus Fire and Rescue. Although the city has some of the money to cover the cost in hand, the source for the rest isn’t clear.
Fire Chief Duane Hughes told the council that Engine 23, based at Fire Station 3 on 31st Avenue North — which serves much of Highway 45 and North Columbus — was at the very end of its service life and needs to be replaced.
CFR has a custom truck being built right now, Hughes said, set to go to First Station 5 when it’s delivered in December. That station is currently relying on a 7-year-old used truck. The manufacturer building that vehicle contacted him and told him they had an identical truck in production, and offered it to CFR for $975,000.
“It’s scheduled to be completed in August, and that’s very important because right now there is no other company that can guarantee us a truck by August of next year,” Hughes said. “Because of supply chain issues, most other companies are saying two years plus before they can get us a truck.”
No money is due to the manufacturer until the truck is delivered, Hughes said. The city has $350,000 in state appropriations from the last legislative session to put toward a new truck but lacks the remaining $625,000 in the fiscal year budget.
Hughes urged the council to act, noting the last new truck the city bought cost $850,000. Now a nearly identical truck has gone up to $975,000, and waiting means not only delays due to the supply chain but also higher cost.
Gremlins
Engine 23 is about 24 years into its service life. The state Fire Ratings Bureau puts the maximum use for a fire truck at 25 years. It has a litany of problems, according to firefighters at Station 3 who spoke to The Dispatch Wednesday afternoon.
Capt. Marco Rodriguez said the truck leaks oil and hydraulic fluid, as well as air, meaning it has to be kept hooked up to a compressor while it’s in the bay at the station. Unhooking it takes time, he said, delaying response when a call comes in.
The truck has a host of gremlins: the dashboard lights up with warnings when it’s cranked, the belts squeal while it’s on the road. The transmission has a habit of locking up.
“The transmission will stick in gear and won’t shift,” firefighter Lukas Borntrager said. “The only way to get it to shift is to stop the truck and turn it off and on again.”
Rodriguez said the back passenger side door in the cabin can’t be opened from the inside. A cargo compartment on the passenger side isn’t used because it likes to pop open while the truck is in motion.
The problems are bad enough for the regular drivers but worse when someone else has to come in, explained Engineer Bob Dinsmore. He was working an overtime shift at Station 3, which isn’t his usual station.
“It’s hard to know which (warning lights) to pay attention to and which are normal,” he said.
Dinsmore said, among other problems in the driver’s seat, the seatbelt doesn’t work properly. When he got in the truck to demonstrate, he obviously struggled to strap himself in. Again, the time spent dealing with that cuts into the truck’s ability to respond swiftly.
Worse yet, the nozzle on the end of the truck’s 50-foot ladder is unreliable. The system is designed to be operated remotely, so the ladder can be extended close to a fire to allow water to be sprayed from a safe distance. This is especially valuable with big houses in neighborhoods like Cady Hills, or tall commercial structures up and down Highway 45.
Rodriguez said it often freezes in place, making it difficult or impossible to use. When pressurized, the truck’s water tank also leaks copiously.
“We’re nursing that truck just to get by,” Hughes said. “It’s a miracle when it cranks.”
Show me the money
Back at the meeting Tuesday night, Hughes told the council there were options to close that shortfall, but not everybody was on board.
“We don’t work on options,” Vice Mayor Joseph Mickens said. “We work on what’s there. I want to hear from (Chief Financial Officer James Brigham).”
Brigham told the council that the city could find the money. It could use the fire insurance rebate funds, which amount to between $130,000 and $140,000 a year, to make payments for a short-term lease-purchase.
The city could also dip into its capital reserve fund, which currently holds about $1 million, if necessary, Brigham said.
“I’m very confident that there are alternative ways to do this,” Brigham said. “I think it would be very wise to go ahead and make this decision now.”
The city doesn’t have to have the money until late next summer, Hughes said, and CFR could use that time to write grants to cover some or all of the cost, potentially reducing the amount the city would have to pony up out of pocket.
Mickens, who voted against the measure, was still unconvinced.
“We’ve got (the police department) over here, and there’s no telling how many cars they need,” Mickens said. “We got more than one area to provide for. You’ve got a new truck already coming in.”
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones moved to proceed with the purchase, seconded by Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard. Mickens made a substitute motion to table, but it died for lack of a second.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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