:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/TFXOTWJCW42HOMXINHN7UIHGBI.jpg)
After hearing from firefighters, their families and residents about the concerns they had about the safety of two commercial chassis fire engines the city of Crystal Lake was thinking about buying, council members decided to table the purchase at their meeting Tuesday.
The commercial engines the city was considering buying for the fire department would have been $707,413. City officials said this would be an initial savings of $117,000 an engine over the custom chassis fire engines they currently are using.
The city said the commercial rescue pumpers will provide similar safety and operational features as the custom chassis but will have lower maintenance costs.
Fire Chief Paul DeRaedt made a presentation recommending the commercial engines to the city council. He said they have to comply with national safety standards.
However, during public comment, residents and firefighters said they would fear for firefighters’ and paramedics’ safety if they were to ride commercial engines instead of custom.
They said the commercial fire engines are more prone to rollovers, that the drum brakes in the proposed engines have less stopping power than disc brakes and that the engines don’t have airbags.
Joseph Forsberg, a Crystal Lake firefighter, said the frontline personnel who have to take the fire engines out on the streets are not asking for fire apparatus “with all the bells and whistles.”
“What we are looking for is something that’s safe and effective and is going to get the job done,” he said.
Forsberg also took issue with the fact that the pump being put in the commercial engine has a rating of up to 1,500 gallons a minute, while the current custom pump guarantees 1,500 gallons of water a minute or more. He said this would lead to safety concerns for residents.
Kelly Bucheger, a teacher in Crystal Lake who is married to a firefighter, said she and her daughters need the peace of mind of knowing her husband is in the safest vehicle possible when he goes out on a call.
“These men and women are one of our city’s biggest assets, and yet we’re going to give them tools that meet the bare minimum safety requirements,” she said, “imploring” the council to reject the bid.
There is no set date yet for when the council will discuss the matter again.
Shepley said he is going to look at information from the chief, see what the counterpositions are, and gather data and more information about the fire engines.