FORT DRUM, N.Y. (WWNY) - Fort Drum received a new fire truck Tuesday - a truck that wasn't supposed to arrive until November.
In January, 7 News first reported that 5 of Fort Drum’s fire trucks failed inspection over the past 3 years and haven’t been replaced. The firefighters’ union turned to Washington to come to the rescue.
According to Fort Drum, the post is slated to receive another new engine/pumper in January 2021, and a third in 2022.
We reported in January that Engine 1, built in 1995, Engine 3, built in 1987, and Rescue 2, built in 2000, were out of service. While maintained and refurbished over the years, they're now deemed unsafe and can't be on the roads.
There is no longer a usable ladder truck. Truck 1, built in 1994, with a 75 foot reach, was taken out of service in September 2018. The department's 100 foot ladder truck built in 1987 failed inspection last fall.
Fort Drum's announcement about a new fire truck comes on the same day that U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer urged the Army to give Fort Drum’s firefighters the tools they need to protect the lives of nearly 20,000 active duty military personnel and their families.
The New York Democrat said Tuesday that he has launched a major push to modernize the Fort Drum Fire Department’s "rapidly aging and obsolete emergency response apparatus."
The Senator said the Army should change the policy preventing Fort Drum from qualifying for a new ladder truck, or to consider exempting Fort Drum from that policy.
Schumer said the Fort Drum Fire Department does not meet the requirements for a new ladder truck from the Army. In order for an installation’s fire department to be given a ladder truck, the post must have at least five buildings that are more than four stories tall and lack sprinkler systems, which Fort Drum does not have.
Schumer said Fort Drum and its first responders do not have the proper equipment to reach the fourth story of their buildings, putting both occupants and the lives of firefighters in harm’s way.
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