Sans Pumper, Anchorage, AK, Crews Responded to Fire in Old Rescue Truck

Bella Biondini

Anchorage Daily News, Alaska

(TNS)

Apr. 11—When Anchorage firefighters responded to a structure fire in late March in the Fairview neighborhood, the first crew that arrived had no water.

With Engine 2 stuck in the mechanic shop and no reserve rig available, firefighters drove an old rescue truck to the scene. While firefighters could still assess the situation, perform some rescue services and shut off utilities, the truck did not have a hose or a pump on board, said Anchorage Fire Chief Doug Schrage, and the crew had to wait for backup.

The Anchorage Fire Department has struggled to maintain a regular vehicle replacement schedule. As its fleet ages, more maintenance is required to keep it up and running. The constant cycle of fire trucks and engines through the maintenance shop has created a vehicle shortage and placed extra stress on a department already burdened by steadily climbing call volumes.

Seconds and minutes matter in this field of work, said Justin Mack, president of the Anchorage Firefighters Union.

The Anchorage Fire Department runs its operations with roughly 50 heavy apparatus, a term used to describe large fire engines and trucks, water tenders and ambulances. Four new trucks and four ambulances were added to the fleet in the last year. While the municipality received a new truck in early April, and is expecting additional new engines in the coming months, it's "never enough to keep up," Mack said.

Over the past decade, the fire department has recorded a 60% increase in call volume, Mack said. Since then, staffing levels have not changed, nor has the number of fire engines and ambulances responding to emergencies.

In 2025, the department received more than 50,000 calls for the first time, Mack said. In Anchorage, that means more miles, cold weather exposure and "wear and tear" on engines, Mack said. And similar to an aging personal vehicle, hose breaks, leaky radiators and worn-out suspension are a normal occurrence for an old fire engine or truck.

"The difference being that they're a bit catastrophic, in the sense that this rig can no longer respond to a call," Mack said.

Schrage called the fire department's reserve fleet "inadequate," and the frontline fleet "somewhat unreliable" due to its age. On an ideal replacement plan, engines stay in use for 15 years before they are retired and available as part of a reserve fleet.

The department currently relies on five reserve engines that range in age from 21-25 years old, Schrage said. Another 12 pieces of equipment are ready for retirement due to their age and mileage, but are still in frontline use, he said.

Most of the repair work is performed in-house by a team of nine mechanics. The shop, located in the Airport Heights neighborhood, is full "every minute of every day," Schrage said.

It's rare for the fire department to have an extra engine on hand, said AFD Fleet Division Chief Oral Scott, who oversees the mechanics. If an extra engine isn't available, firefighters may have to travel in a smaller vehicle like a wildland fire brush truck, which has the capacity to pump 500 gallons a minute, compared to an engine's 1,500.

On Thursday, Scott described a list of broken parts on the fire engines and trucks parked in the shop: radiators, alarm and water pump systems and suspension. Some of the older trucks have more than 200,000 miles on them.

Scott estimated the shop spends nearly $1.5 million annually on parts.

Scott pointed to an out-of-service ambulance but couldn't remember off the top of his head why it was there. "Seems like everything's broken," he said.

Tight maintenance schedules are putting firefighters in a pinch more regularly. In late December, the fire department used a truck to block off a lane of traffic near a car wreck to protect first responders in case a driver wasn't paying attention.

After someone rear-ended the truck, mechanics cut off bent and sharp edges, sanded it down and re-installed lights on the rear. With no reserve engines available, it prevented a station from going without a water pump that evening, he said.

In a separate incident last week, an on-call mechanic worked from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. to fix a coolant hose because all of the department's reserves were in service, Scott said.

"We're not in great shape," Scott said. "We're (in) a crisis management mode where I don't get to decide what to work on that morning, the fleet decides," he said.

City officials reported in 2024 that Anchorage's large-vehicle fleet — including equipment from the fire department — was at risk of "imminent collapse." The following year, Anchorage voters approved two new tax levies that funneled money toward new snow removal equipment and police vehicle replacements.

[Previous reporting: Anchorage's large-vehicle fleet is at risk of 'imminent collapse' after years of underinvestment]

The fire department still relies on ballot propositions to replace its engines, Schrage said. Anchorage voters considered a list of municipal bond proposals in the April city election that would set aside more than $10 million for public safety and transit, a portion of which will be used to pay for new ambulances and fire engines. Preliminary election results on Thursday showed both of the bonds relating to the fire department were likely to pass.

Voters typically approve bonds for replacement apparatus and emergency medical services, Schrage said. Still, election years without a bond have "thrown off" the fire department's replacement schedule, he said.

Following new legislation that went into effect in 2021, the municipality receives a larger portion of Medicaid reimbursements for ambulance transports. The sum totals close to $15 million annually, Mack said, but does not funnel directly to the fire department.

"We need money for apparatus. We need money for new stations. We need money for more employees. ... There's a lot of budget issues in Anchorage (and) a lot of priorities. Where does public safety fall in all of that?" Mack asked.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include how many trucks and ambulances have been added to the Anchorage Fire Department's fleet in the last year and clarify context surrounding Oral Scott's remarks.

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