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Some residents in Darby Borough are angry after they said intoxicated firefighters drove a station truck struck their vehicles -- again.
Several months ago, NBC 10 investigator Luann Cahn covered a similar incident. This time, she said police reports confirmed that a ladder truck from Darby Borough Fire Station No. 2 ran into several vehicles last Thursday.
A resident said doors and bumpers were ripped off some of the cars parked on Concord Road from the impact.
"It was moving quick and they didn't stop," one resident said.
According to sources, the truck was responding to a fire close to the firehouse, but drivers took the long route through several other boroughs before smashing through narrow Concord Road.
The truck eventually made it to the fire call, but it was so late another ladder truck had been called in from neighboring Collingdale, sources added, noting that members of the fire company were seen at a party with an open bar earlier in the night.
There is also a bar in the firehouse.
The president of the fire company, Ed Neary Sr., said he was out of town when the incident happened.
Neary said he didn't know who was driving at the time of the incident, and added that the incident was under investigation.
Last year, the fire chief of Darby Station No. 1 wrote letters to borough managers stating that Darby fire patrol No. 2 operated vehicles and manpower under the influence of alcohol.
"I'm going to definitely ask more questions now that you're telling me," Mayor Helen Thomas said
Still, Thomas said, police are not reporting any suspicion of alcohol in this case.
"I think it was 1 in the morning; everyone was in bed," firefighter Mike Fecanin said when asked if anyone had been drinking before the fire call.
But neighbors said it just doesn't make sense.
"I think it was reckless and dangerous," a resident said.
NBC 10 obtained a police report that stated Ed Gannon, the third assistant fire chief of Darby No. 2, was driving the truck. He did not return calls from NBC 10.
The station also contacted Ed Gannon Jr., a local district justice and a Darby No. 2 firefighter, but he did not wish to comment.
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