BOSTON — Safety experts said a promised overhaul of the Boston Fire Department’s fleet maintenance division has not been addressed despite a deadly 2009 fire truck crash.
WCVB.com reported that the city made changes to the fleet maintenance division after a crash killed Lt. Keven Kelley and injured two firefighters. At the time, ladders and engines were not being maintained and were in poor condition. The condition of the fleet, according to experts, is worse than it was in 2009.
According to the report, daily inspections have been abandoned and preventative maintenance is in disarray, with some trucks more than 200 days past due on inspections. There’s also reportedly no one in the department who knows how to use the computerized fleet management system.
“When you look at a total of 60,000 inspections or tests that were supposed to be done and that less than 500 were done that’s problematic,” Boston Fire Department Commissioner Joe Finn said.
Commissioner Finn launched a review after hearing about safety concerns from firefighters.
Richard Paris, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718, said the condition of the department’s fleet is putting lives at risk.
“Firefighters are concerned when they go out the door,” Paris said. “Is that truck door going to open up? Am I going to have brakes? Can I stop at that red light? Will I get water when I show up to a building?”
Safety experts said the maintenance department allowed one heat-damaged ladder truck to stay in service for a year, putting “firefighters and civilians at risk,” according to the report.
Fleet safety director Peter Kakaridas resigned nine days before the report was finished.
“I was completely at my wits end as to why equipment was not up to snuff and why all these safety concerns were coming forward,” Commissioner Finn said.