More than 20 Houston fire trucks have operated in recent days without air conditioning amid triple-digit temperatures, the firefighters union said, prompting calls to repair the city’s aging fleet and rebuttals from city officials who say they are working to fix the problem.
Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration has hired two outside companies to help city employees repair the broken air conditioning units, Fire Chief Sam Pena said Monday. Still, about two dozen engines and ladder trucks remained without air conditioning as of Tuesday morning, according to Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association President Marty Lancton.
In a sharply worded letter to Turner, Lancton said firefighters in bunker gear face “heightened risk for heat exhaustion and illness” if they lack air conditioning.
“Please dispense with the excuses and political rhetoric about what can or cannot be done,” Lancton said. “In a city of Houston’s size and prominence, properly resourcing public safety, like other major U.S. cities do, should not just be optional. It should be a priority.”
In a statement, Pena said the city had implemented an “aggressive vehicle replacement strategy” during the last two years, buying 18 engines, two ladder trucks, a tower truck, 24 ambulances and 10 emergency rescue support units since July 2018.
“Although the number of heat-related injuries has declined from 62 incidents in FY18 to 33 in FY19, we acknowledge that any heat-related emergency to our personnel and any air conditioning unit not working while in an extreme heat advisory is one too many,” Pena said.
In the letter to Turner, Lancton asked the mayor to “more seriously address the continuing decline of the HFD fleet and get out ahead of the issue.”
“To not do so threatens not only Houston firefighters, but also the people we serve,” Lancton wrote.
The persistent feud between Turner and the firefighters union has extended in recent weeks beyond the long-running pay dispute best known for the contentious Proposition B pay parity referendum.
Approved by voters in November, the measure granted firefighters the same pay as police of similar rank and seniority, though a district judge struck it down in May. The firefighters union has appealed the ruling.
Last week, Turner and Lancton traded barbs over news that an HFD senior captain with neuroendocrine cancer won his appeal for workers compensation benefits after the city denied his claim.
Lancton said the city has denied 100 percent of firefighters’ workers comp claims since 2016, alleging Turner has waged a “political and legal war on Houston firefighters families … from City Hall all the way to the cancer wards.”
Turner said the city has not decided whether to challenge the ruling, and said, "With regard to Marty Lancton's rhetoric, I believe Houstonians and other people in this country are exhausted from how people talk negatively about each other, especially when what is being said is untrue.”
The broken air-conditioning units created political fodder for Turner’s mayoral opponents, who contended he has not properly maintained the fire department’s fleet since taking office in 2016.
“25 fire trucks without AC. Similar issues with city garbage truck fleet. Failure to plan. Failure to manage. Time for change,” businessman and mayoral contender Bill King tweeted Monday.
Turner’s office shot back against the criticism from Lancton and others.
“When the first instinct is to blame the mayor with no regard for the hardworking city of Houston fleet management employees working nights and weekends to fix AC in HFD apparatus, you know this is not air conditioning,” Mary Benton, Turner’s press secretary, tweeted Monday.
Trial lawyer Tony Buzbee, also a candidate for mayor, criticized Benton for saying, “We pray firefighters are safe” in a separate tweet.
“The city has an obligation to our public safety professionals and it is much more than praying for them,” Buzbee tweeted. “I’m sure they appreciate the prayers like I did as a Marine. What is most important though is the right equipment. ACT!! Do something.”
Benton responded by pointing to Pena’s statement, in which he said the city had hired outside vendors and, under Turner, increased spending on fleet replacement.
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