Investigative Report Uncovers Aging, Dilapidated NY Fire Fleet

Jan. 26, 2023 Buffalo IAFF Local 228 President Vincent Ventresca said if the public knew they would be appalled and terrified.

Source Firehouse.com News

When you have an emergency and call 9-1-1, you figure a crew aboard a fire engine will soon be at your door to help.

But, that’s not always the case in Buffalo, according to an Investigative Post probe. 

Firefighters told journalists that some engines failed to pump at working fires while others have broken down while responding to a call.

IAFF Local 228 President Vincent Ventresca said incidents during the recent blizzard which included rigs with no heat pushed the dilapidated fleet front and center. 

“If the public knew the real condition of our gear and our working conditions, they would be appalled — and they would be terrified,” Ventresca wrote in an open letter two weeks ago.

He told reporters that some of the city’s ladder trucks were damaged in the storm. One doesn’t have a working pump while the other has a mechanical problem caused the ladder to be stuck in the air for five days during the blizzard. 

Ventresca said he’s worried something similar could happen at the scene of an emergency which would endanger both firefighters and citizens. 

A couple of issues that Investigative Post jornalists found include:

1. Ladder Company 14’s 12-year-old truck has a cracked frame.
2. Ladder Company 15’s rig is a 13-year-old Spartan Crimson with a 100-foot, rear-mounted ladder. It has long been jury-rigged with a desk chair for a rear passenger seat.
3. A quarter the fleet — seven of 28 vehicles — is older than recommended industry standards. Another 13 are within two to three years of that mark
4. .Many trucks are plagued by serious issues — cracked frames, unreliable pumps, engine problems — and have trouble generating firefighting foam.Three of the department’s pumper trucks have trouble blowing heat, which means windows caked with ice in winter weather.
5. Over the last 12 years, the city has invested a quarter of what it would take to keep the fleet up to date, as recommended by the National Fire Protection Association.