Houston Councilmember Joaquin Martinez calls the previous administration’s fire truck purchase “disappointing.”
HOUSTON — A $1.5 million fire truck is sitting idle, not because its broken, but because it doesn’t fit inside the fire station it was intended to serve.
At Fire Station 61, which was built in the 1960s, the fire department has struck a problem. Station 61 is near the corner of Almeda Genoa and Monroe.
“It is a little disappointing that the previous administration did not make sure that these trucks were going to fit,” Councilmember Joaquin Martinez learning that a fire truck purchased years ago is not going to its intended station.
According to the Houston Fire Department, they received the truck back on June 9. In a statement, HFD says “while the ladder truck fits in the bay door, the clearances are narrow, and when combined with the grade of the driveway, it is currently unfeasible to keep the ladder truck in service at this location.”
This means the $1.5 million investment is now just sitting in storage, but the existing ladder truck is still at the station.
Typically, the lead time on purchasing new fire trucks is two to three years.
KHOU 11 asked Councilman Martinez how this may change the purchasing process moving forward.
”We purchased old solid waste vehicles, heavy trucks that are now, you know been diminishing a lot quicker,” Martinez said. “We are looking at doing things correctly the first time and not having to come back and retrofit something because of, something that was a mishap or just overlooked.”
HFD says it is working with the City’s General Services Department to reconstruct the bay door and provide safer clearance for the truck. Once construction is completed, Station 61 will receive the new truck.
Councilman Martinez says the community should not be worried.
“There will be no lack of services, we are going to continue to have a ladder truck at Station 61, but the sooner the better, we’ll start having the new ladder truck out at that station,” Councilmember Martinez said.
It’s unclear when the city’s General Services Department could finish retrofitting the bay doors.
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