Replacing Firetrucks with Pickup Trucks

At least one department has come up with an ingenious idea…to replace fire engines and ladder trucks with pickup trucks when they are out of service. The Buffalo Fire Department has decided that this option is better than nothing at all. It seems to me that there are plenty of other options which should have been used. However, most of them have to do with not backing yourself into this corner in the first place.

One thing I have learned is that when Fire Chiefs and City/County Administrators talk about issues they usually do not talk about how grim a situation is. Historically, this has gotten many into trouble when the shit hits the fan. For instance:

Cunningham, however, said firefighters at the station at Ellicott and South Division streets were assigned a pickup Thursday and most of Friday.

Read the entire article here

Derek Gee / Buffalo News Pickup trucks are used as temporary replacements for standard fire engines undergoing repairs. The replacement rigs are only intended to be used for hours when regular trucks are out of commission.

Derek Gee / Buffalo News Pickup trucks are used as temporary replacements for standard fire engines undergoing repairs. The replacement rigs are only intended to be used for hours when regular trucks are out of commission.

The article also states:

But can they get the job done? A top fire official said the substitute vehicles are better than nothing at all.

Deputy Fire Commissioner Patrick T. Lewis added that if a pickup arrives first on the scene, a fully outfitted aerial truck and a pumper truck will be close behind.

Dan Cunningham, president of the firefighters union, says precious time in rescues could be lost if a pickup arrives first. Unlike aerial trucks with ladders capable of stretching 75 to 100 feet into the air, pickups carry ladders with a capacity of about 35 feet.

Most of all it makes you wonder where the City of Buffalo’s priorities are. If this is the state of their Public Safety I have to wonder what kind of shape the rest of the City is in. Visit the Buffalo Fire Department online here.