DAVIDSON COUNTY, Tenn. — A fire chief defended his department Wednesday saying no one was in danger when a firehouse was without a fire truck for two days.
Fire Chief Ricky White, with the Nashville (Tenn.) Fire Department, told WKRN reporters that station 29 did not have an engine from Sept. 10-12 due to maintenance issues and a lack of reserve equipment.
“Let me put it this way. We would prefer to have engine companies, truck companies, rescue companies at all our stations, but periodically, these companies are removed for several different reasons,” Chief White said. “In many cases an engine company is out working a fire when another fire comes in their territory. So, there is not a whole lot of difference there whether we have an engine company. Shut down or not, you are going to get the same amount of equipment responding to your emergency.”
Chief White said it is not unusual for an engine to be on another call or out of service, requiring nearby fire halls to respond, according to the report.
“It happens all the time,” Chief White explained. “We pull companies out of service and they go to in service training. We have a system in place where specific companies are backed up and by doing a backup, we are pulling a company from another part of town. It’s a way we need to do things to make sure we are staying within our budget and still providing a premium service for the tax payer.”
The chief said the safety of his crews is paramount.
“They’re rolling hard, but we still preach that if you get a piece of equipment that you deem unsafe, make a note of that with the people you get the equipment from,” Chief White said. “And second of all, we have to protect the citizens and if we are rolling with an unsafe piece of equipment … that is another issue right there.”
The department has been working closely with the mayor’s office to get the department 11 new fire trucks, six new ambulances and a $3 million upgrade for SCBA’s, according to the report.