PA Chief Says Aging, Unreliable Apparatus Must Go

Some of Reading's frontline firefighting apparatus is aging and needs to be replaced.

The city's fire department is asking for funding from the city's pool of American Rescue Plan Act monies to replace three vehicles, Fire Chief James Stoudt said Monday at a City Council meeting.

The vehicles are part of the department's frontline fleet of five engines, three ladder trucks and a rescue truck, he said.

The total cost of the new apparatus could be upwards of $3 million, he said, noting it is difficult to estimate expenses without specifications, which have not yet been drawn up.

A top priority is a 2009 ladder truck, housed at the Ninth and Marion streets station. Known as Ladder 3, it primarily serves the northeast section of the city.

A tractor-drawn aerial ladder truck, it is controlled by two drivers, one in the front and one in the back, Stoudt said, and is particularly versatile for navigating the city's tight streets.

The truck is used to rescue those trapped in upper stories, transport ground ladders and is outfitted with an aerial ladder. It is also equipped with the jaws of life, used to extricate victims of vehicle accidents.

But the 14-year-old vehicle has become unreliable.

During an incident in August 2021 involving a gas explosion in house on North 10th Street, Stoudt said, the truck shut down and had to be towed from the scene.

A little more than a year earlier in July 2020, the same truck broke down as it pulled out of the station on the way to a working fire, he said.

"This was probably one of the worst fears for us," Stoudt said.

The apparatus should have been the first vehicle on the scene, he said, and available to rescue any occupants who may have been trapped.

"But it never made it to the fire," the chief said, noting that in the last six months alone over $10,000 was spent on repairs, and more are needed.

Also targeted for replacement is a pumper truck known as Engine 7, which primarily serves the city's northwest neighborhoods.

The 2008 engine, housed at the Spring and McKnight streets station, is capable of pumping 1,500-gallons per minute and equipped with a 500-gallon tank.

The pumper, too, has cost the department over $10,000 in repairs over the past six months.

The department's only rescue truck also needs to be replaced, Stoudt said.

Known as Recue 1, it is kept at the Plum and Franklin streets station and protects all 95,112 residents of the city as well as visitors, Stoudt said.

Among other tools, the vehicle is equipped with the jaws of life, metering devices and mitigation materials for carbon monoxide and other hazardous materials incidents, rope rescue equipment for high- and low-angle rescues, and other specialty devices used for building collapses, water rescues, machinery entrapment and other emergencies.

"I feel very strongly that this is a 100% what we should be looking at using this ARPA money for," Councilman Christopher Daubert said. "These are things that we would end up paying for soon anyway."

Daubert said he is particularly concerned by Stoudt's description of equipment shutdowns that could endanger the public.

"You can't even really put a price tag on that," he said.

Stoudt said the National Fire Protection Association standards recommend apparatus 15 or more years old and properly maintained be moved to reserve status and that 25 years old or greater be replaced, he said.

The department's frontline fleet also includes two newer engines, dating to 2020 and 2021, a new tower ladder truck that was delivered in April and a tiller ladder truck purchased in 2017, he said.

On order are two engines purchased last year with Community Development Block Grant funds and expected to be delivered later this year, Stoudt said.

___

(c)2023 the Reading Eagle (Reading, Pa.)

Visit the Reading Eagle (Reading, Pa.) at readingeagle.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.