Calgary's fire chief says his department is at the breaking point and he says the only solution is $43-milion in help from city council.
On Thursday Chief Bruce Burrell showed CTV Calgary the fire department's aging fleet of trucks, tankers and aerials. "We have a hole right through this ladder, it's actually rusted through," says Burrell.
Burrell says 30 percent of the fire department's fleet is too old based on industry regulations. "Some of these vehicles are 20 to 22 years old and still look pretty good going down the street but mechanically they're getting to the end of, or beyond, their life span."
The chief says the repair shop is usually bursting to the seams. As soon as one truck goes out another one rolls in. At one point in June the fire department was nearly in crisis. "We did reach a point in June, for about a two-week period, when we were running five aerials, where we normally run 11. We were pretty much moving them around the city like checker pieces."
Burrell says the $43-million he's asking the city for, over five years, will bring the fleet back to its optimal level.
Alderman Ric McIver says the city will likely approve the plan. "The citizens will not be happy if they have boost the trucks before they leave. And we're not there yet, but it's important with an aging fleet to bring it up to date before it becomes a problem, and so this is our opportunity to do that."
Council will get an opportunity to approve the funding request on July 28th.
