SUV Versus Fire Engine, Firefighters Say City Isn't Saving Money
Danbury Firefighters say the city claims it is saving money by sending them out in an SUV rather than a fire engine, and they want some numbers.
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"It's all smoke and mirrors," said Louis DeMici, president of Danbury Firefighters local 801. "We've asked them for documentation. We've yet to be provided it."
Both Mayor Mark Boughton and Fire Chief Geoff Herald have said the city is saving money on the SUV for many reasons. It is smaller, uses less gasoline, its maintenance costs are a fraction of that of a fire engine. They argue a fire engine isn't required on most calls, because most calls to the fire department are not fires.
DeMici said the city is claiming replacing Engine 21 with a smaller, red SUV is saving money, but really, when the SUV arrives at a fire, other fire departments in the city have to send an engine, so they're sending them farther, adding extra wear and tear. In those cases, the SUV is more expensive than if the SUV was still Engine 21.
"The union is opposed to this," DeMici said. "When Engine 21 is closed, another company has to respond. It's a longer distance."
DeMici said in addition to more wear and tear on the vehicles, it also takes the other districts longer to respond. That could be putting fire fighters in danger.
"We don't want to be addressing this issue by waiting until someone gets hurt," DeMici said.
bordwithbs
7:59 am on Thursday, December 22, 2011
If it's an issue about saving lives versus saving money, I'll go with the firefighters decisions every time. We're talking peanuts here, not a great deal of money at all.
And it's not clear if Boughton is making a wise decision, or just trying to exert his power over the fire department.
g
9:32 am on Friday, December 23, 2011
The choice between large and small vehicles is almost always a choice between saving lives. A large 4 wheel drive SUV is much safer than most commuters drive on the road. For the fire department, an even larger truck will not only be safer for the firemen to be in, but will permit them to carry equipment that will help save lives.
I'm glad the firemen are doing this. It's a false savings in my opinion. However anyone driving a small car instead of a mini van or large 4 wheel drive SUV is making a choice to risk death or significant negative health impact to save on gasoline.
If you have to save on gas, then you do what you must do. I wish our schools taught the safety of very large vehicles as a positive about them. Same here, Boughton sees magic savings from a smaller less capable vehicle. Eventually someone will die, it's a question of how many thousands of gallons of gasoline did Danbury save for that life. People in aggregate make the same decision every time they buy a car.
mazar
8:10 am on Thursday, December 22, 2011
Both Mayor Mark Boughton & Fire Chief Geoff Herald have said the city is saving money on the SUV for plenty of reasons. It is smaller, makes use of less gasoline, its maintenance costs are a fraction of that of a fire engine. They argue a fire engine is not necessary on most calls, because most calls to the fire department are not fires.
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bordwithbs
10:10 am on Thursday, December 22, 2011
Mazar, based on your logic would a bicycle would be the best choice?
Jennie Anne
12:25 pm on Thursday, December 22, 2011
They should consolidate the volunteer fire companies. That is an idea they would save money and NOT risk firefighter's safety!!
Filo Beddoe
6:28 am on Friday, December 23, 2011
Sounds like they don't have enough fires to support buying another truck. The call log will confirm if this is true, FOI it Patch and let us see. Would be interesting.
Hal Jordan
11:01 pm on Saturday, December 24, 2011
This has nothing to do with buying or not buying "another truck." Engine 21, the one replaced by the SUV, is brand new and it is just sitting in the firehouse not being used. The firefighters that used to be assigned to Engine 21 are now assigned to an SUV to handle medical calls and general service calls like vehicle lockouts. Thus there is now one less engine available to respond to dangerous emergencies that the SUV can't handle.
Bam Bam
10:53 am on Friday, December 23, 2011
Can someone explain what the purpose is of the purchase decision? Its replacing a fire engine? Don't we have others? Not enough? What is the real goal of this decision? Do we need a day to day vehicle for the fire dept? thanks.