The city of San Antonio has filed a $3 million lawsuit against Interspiro, the manufacturer of breathing equipment that was once used by the San Antonio Fire Department.
City Attorney Michael Bernard said that the lawsuit seeks to recoup $1.8 in purchasing costs, $1.6 in overtime and $100,000 for equipment testing.
Months after the city purchased hundreds of air tanks and masks from Interspiro in 2005, firefighters complained about problems with the gear, including leaks and a complete loss of air flow.
Some of the problems occurred while firefighters were battling fires. In a few instances, the equipment failures forced firefighters to jump out windows.
While city officials worked with Interspiro to correct the problems, Fire Department officials increased manpower to fire calls, which added up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime.
City officials eventually ditched the gear and purchased new equipment from a different company and since then, no problems have been reported.
Interspiro has yet to pick up the faulty gear, city officials said.
Calls to Interspiro seeking comment were not returned to KSAT 12 News.
The company, though, has maintained all along they have full confidence in their gear and took appropriate actions to fix the problems that arose.
Previous Stories:
- May 30, 2006: Latest Close Call Prompts City To Put Rush On New Firefighting Masks
- March 24, 2006: SA Firefighters To Get New Air Masks
- February 15, 2006: City Ready To Sue Over Faulty Firefighting Equipment
- February 1, 2006: Fire Dept. Corners Company Over Faulty Equipment
