Repairs Sideline NY Fire Department's Pumper

HORNELL, NY—A Hornell Fire Department pumper will be out of service for repairs — possibly for a couple of weeks or more — but its absence does not compromise the department's firefighting capabilities, Chief Frank Brzozowski told The Spectator Thursday.

Engine 83, a 2005 pumper, was towed out of town earlier this week, bound for a business in Monroe County that specializes in fire truck repairs. According to Brzozowski, the pumper was experiencing problems with its dual function transmission.

"(The truck) was getting a yearly inspection and it had a problem with the pump, so it was out of service. Then we had to send it out to the company that does fire trucks, in Churchville, for repairs," Brzozowski said. "It is not like a car transmission that makes it go. It's a pump transmission which regulates on fire pumpers the difference between whether it is road driven or it shifts the transmission over so the engine then runs the pump."

Brzozowski said the department is in good shape for any eventuality while Engine 83 is out of service.

"We have another (back up) pumper. So it's not like we are out of service or anything like that," the chief said. "The other pumper has the full complement of everything we need for fire protection. Plus, the ladder (truck) has a 2000-gallon pump on it, so in reality we still have two pumpers."

It is uncertain when Engine 83 will be back in service, with Brzozowski saying, "a week, two weeks, I don't know yet, until they get in there. They just got it all ripped down (Thursday), so they are looking it over to see what is wrong with it and what they have to do to fix it."

All equipment eventually breaks down. That's the reality, the fire chief acknowledged.

"It gets a lot of miles between the road and pumping. It gets a workout," he said. "After so many years of wear and tear, and it has to have maintenance, and things like this happen."

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