Windcrest Fire Chief Dan Kramer told City Council at its Aug. 5 meeting after a pumper truck experienced “a catastrophic failure” while responding to an apartment fire earlier that day.
“I don’t have a dependable engine in the city,” he said.
When Windcrest firefighters arrived on the scene at the Crestwind Apartments in the 8800 block of Willmon Way at about 1 a.m. Aug. 5, the pump unit on the truck would not work.
Mutual aid agreements with surrounding cities brought fire equipment and firefighters from at least eight departments. But by the time they arrived, a reported kitchen fire in one unit had spread and flames had consumed the entire four-unit building.
Fire Chief Dan Kramer updated Windcrest City Council on the state of the city’s fire department.
“I don’t have a dependable engine in the city,” Kramer said. “The engine that I am running out of now, we’ve had the technicians come and look at it, and they’ve fixed it as best they could.
“I’ve also got a hold of the people working on our other engine. They basically are going to staple it together for us, use a little glue and duct tape and bring it down, so we have a more reliable pump in the city until we can hopefully get this truck approved and delivered,” he added.
Kramer spoke to council about the purchase of a Pierce Enforcer Pumper with remaining money from the bond approved by voters last November.
Kramer said he had heard concern about buy back-to-back purchases of fire trucks. The city already went out for a $1.32 million ladder truck from the $2 million bond. Kramer said he needs to OK the purchase of the Pierce Pumper now, in order to speed up delivery of the unit.
“The bigger concern for me right now is the fact I have one truck in the shop for another 30-45 days,’ he said. “I have another truck that, as we know, had a catastrophic failure of the pump last night on a structure fire.”
Council approved the purchase of the pumper, which Kramer said should arrive in March 2020.
The fire chief gave an update on the city’s current ability to respond to fires.
“We will be in service with one truck, barring no other issues,” he said. He said the department rolled to the fire with three firefighters, which is normal for fighting a fire.
Kramer said at least eight different fire agencies made the scene to help quell the blaze.
In addition to the $1.32 million ladder truck, the department spent another $105,490 on new SCBAs (self-contained breathing apparatus). The price tag for the Pierce Pumper, the chief said, is $569,637 which brings the city’s bond expenditures to $1,998,051.
“We do have all the trucks and the SCBAs required to stock those trucks, at under the $2 million from the bond,” he added.
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