By Bob Warren
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2006 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
Fueled by $4.3 million in federal money, the St. Bernard Parish Fire Department will soon have replaced all 13 firetrucks it lost in Hurricane Katrina.
And in an ironic twist, the department now serving fewer people in the rebuilding parish will gain an extra truck when the dust settles.
Fire Chief Thomas Stone said Monday that the department is awaiting delivery of the last five trucks to round out the fleet.
The new trucks, plus the four the department had bought shortly before Katrina and was able to move to safety before the storm swamped the parish, will give the department virtually an all-new fleet.
“It’s just a shame we had to get them this way,” he said.
In addition to replacing the 13 trucks lost in the storm, the Federal Emergency Management Agency purchased a water tanker for the department last year.
That tanker was needed because, at the time, “we didn’t have a lot of water pressure” for hydrants throughout much of the parish, Stone said.
FEMA also has promised to renovate or rebuild the parish’s 10 fire stations, all of which were heavily damaged, Stone said.
The stations at Delacroix Island and Ycloskey, he said, were “wiped off the face of the earth.” It might be five years before the parish’s population growth necessitates reopening all the stations, Stone said.
St. Bernard’s current population — estimated at around 25,000, down from 67,000 residents pre-Katrina -- is being covered by six stations.
The department has trailers set up at stations in Arabi, Violet, St. Bernard, Verret and two stations in Chalmette.
Stone said staffing in his department is down more than 22 percent since before the hurricane, from 116 employees to 90 now.
His annual budget, which relies heavily on sales taxes that funnel into the parish’s general fund, is now $6 million, down from $7.5 million pre-Katrina.
“But right now, our workload is heavier than before the storm,” he said.
Medical calls have increased and firefighters’ days are often filled with training, he said. The department also has dived into the parish’s recovery effort — washing away mud, clearing debris, even pumping out swimming pools as a service to residents.
“And we still have fires, unfortunately,” he said.