LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A 33-year-old backup fire engine with rust on the rear frame, still cherry red, is one of the better auxiliary vehicles in the Louisville Fire Department's fleet.
Fire Chief Brian O'Neill is concerned too many go to the shop for repairs and never come back.
"We're starting to hurt on those auxiliary apparatus," he said. "If you look at one of our large fires like the church on East Broadway, we had to bring in off-duty firefighters to protect the rest of the city because we had so many resources committed on that fire. We need auxiliary apparatus so we can continue to protect the city. You start running out of those, and then you're in trouble."
O'Neill sees trouble ahead for frontline trucks too, the type that are the first to leave.
About $6 million, awarded by Metro Council Thursday night from a budget surplus, is addressing the issue.
About $5 million of that will buy the fire department three new vehicles. The other $1.1 million goes towards building repairs at four separate fire houses.
Fire House Engine 17 by Brown-Forman is over 100 years old. In fact its garage door bays used to be horse stalls. But if you take a look inside, that history is starting to crumble.
"This place has seen a lot," Captain Donovan Sims said. "It's been around since before World War II... It serves this whole, vast, west end—Portland, down into Shively."
And the firefighters working inside deal with missing tiles and holes in the floor.
In the gym, the plaster and paint peel while the ceiling crumbles away.
"Facilities are not terrible," the chief acknowledged. "But they need help."
About $33 million more in help, the chief calculated.
However, his priority remains replacing fleet vehicles entering their sunset years because they take three years to make.
"As we go into the next budget cycle, we're gonna need about three or four apparatus ordered next year in 2025 so we can get them in 2028." O'Neill projected.
That'll cost another $6 million in 2025.
The department's goal is to have a frontline fleet less than 20 years old by 2030.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, frontline vehicles shouldn't be older than 15 years.
If those vehicles fail, O'Neill said "we can't run to the fire" on foot.
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