SUV Versus Fire Engine, Firefighters Say City Isn't Saving Money

"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.