Scott Dance
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Firefighters Union warned residents Tuesday that two Northwest Baltimore fire units are out of service. In response, fire department officials said they are still “more than prepared and well equipped” to respond to emergencies.
A fire company based at 3906 Liberty Heights Avenue has been out of service since Dec. 24, and a second company in the area, at 5500 Reisterstown Road, went out of service Monday, the union said.
The union, IAFF Local 734, said the city fire department doesn’t have any reserve trucks to move to those fire stations and is instead moving a company from 1229 Bush Street in Southwest Baltimore to the Liberty Heights area.
“You may ask, how does this impact me and our community?” the union said in a statement released Tuesday. “This delay in apparatus results in increased response times from other fire companies within the City.”
In response to the statement and questions from The Baltimore Sun, fire department spokeswoman Blair Adams said that while there are units out of service, “that does not impede our ability to provide emergency services to the citizens of Baltimore City in the event there are emergencies.”
Reserve units are used when a fire engine or truck is out of service, and if none are available, the department has suppression support units and medic units to assist in emergencies, Adams said.
She did not answer questions about why the Liberty Heights trucks are out of service, or when they might be back in service.
“The last thing we would want is for our community to be alarmed or doubt our ability to save them,” Adams said. “We’re an organization that provides emergency services everyday — and we are more than prepared and well equipped to do so.”
———
©2019 The Baltimore Sun