Dallas fire department will rent trucks as resources continue to run short

Dallas’ fire department is planning to rent trucks by the end of the month because it doesn’t have enough working vehicles in its fleet.

The two rented ladder trucks could arrive as early as this week to help cover for nine trucks still in need of repairs due to mechanical issues or damage sustained in crashes, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Dominique Artis. The department has been using seven older trucks typically stored in reserve to help keep up with responding to emergency calls.

Supply chain issues for parts and a lack of mechanics also are contributing to delays in getting vehicles back on the streets, fire officials say.

“Pre-pandemic, we never had issues like we’re seeing now where we just don’t have enough equipment to be put back in service as fast as we were seeing then,” Artis said. “With parts, you could see a delay from a week to two weeks or other issues that delay it further. It’s just all over the map.”

Artis said the plan is to rent the trucks for two months and that the price is being negotiated.

The lack of trucks is the latest in a string of issues with fire department equipment and buildings that have alarmed firefighters’ associations and repeatedly been brought to the attention of the City Council. The city has millions in repair needs for its fire stations despite the department typically receiving the second-largest amount of money annually from the city’s general fund, behind the police department.

The department has spent nearly $74 million on 176 new vehicles over the past five years, including 17 new ladder trucks, according to the city.

Several fire station rehab projects to be funded from a share of $32 million in 2017 bond money earmarked for public safety facilities haven’t started yet, city records show.

The same rings true this year as Dallas Fire-Rescue is proposed to have a nearly $368 million budget starting in October, which would be a $31 million increase from what the City Council approved last fall.

The department has also had issues with training academy buildings. For parts of this year, the building used to simulate extinguishing fires wasn’t deemed safe enough to train recruits in and cost at least $11,000 to fix

City officials last month said recruits have resumed live fire training, but a small tower and another training building meant to simulate an apartment also need repairs.

Dallas’ police and fire associations sued the city earlier this year alleging city officials were improperly delaying pay raises for the first responders. The suit was dropped in June pending an updated negotiated agreement between the city and the associations on wages, working conditions and other issues. If no agreement is reached, the associations could sue the city again.

In June, ongoing problems led to a Dallas Fire Fighters Association letter of support for possibly firing City Manager T.C. Broadnax.

The letter cited pay issues, being short more than 10 mechanics and having 12 trucks without working air conditioning.

“The equipment that we depend upon to protect the citizens lack basic preventative maintenance which leads to breakdowns and some fire stations not having equipment to cover that area of the city,” the letter said.

Jim McDade, the association’s president, said air-conditioning problems with most of the trucks have been fixed over time, but he estimated the department is still down around 10 mechanics.

“They’re hard to find because they have to be very specialized and there’s more money to be made in the private sector,” McDade said. “It is definitely years of mismanagement of our mechanics in our shop that have led to this issue.”

Eighteen of the department’s 59 fire stations also need HVAC repairs or replacements, according to a city inventory needs estimate in August. The city estimates it would cost $9.1 million to fully repair issues at 50 of the stations and another $1.5 million for the agency’s maintenance repair shop. Almost half of the stations, 28, were built in the 1970s or earlier.

Fire-Rescue Lt. Robert Borse in a memo sent to the mayor and City Council members last week said structural degradation was found at Fire Station 11 in the Oak Lawn area, including with the building’s facade. Built in 1909, it’s the city’s oldest fire station and is a historical landmark.

The building issues present a potential hazard to staff and pedestrians, and the condition of the building is still being evaluated, Borse wrote.

“In the meantime, a safety perimeter is being established with barriers to help mitigate danger to pedestrians,” the memo said.

No barriers were seen outside the station on Tuesday, but there were several cracks in the structure.

Last year, the city budgeted $15 million for fire department equipment maintenance and supply. Nearly $17 million is proposed for the next fiscal year.

In a response to the fire association’s letter, Deputy City Manager Jon Fortune told council members in August that the department’s facility issues were because of “decades of deferred building maintenance.” He said the city has made strides in providing more money to address department needs and improving the department and the services provided for residents in recent years.

He listed a series of benefits and services for staff that have been added, such as replacing six fire stations since 2017.

“While I believe we have room for improvement and should continuously strive to improve, I am proud of the programs implemented and efforts of our team to serve both the employees of DFR and our residents,” Fortune wrote.

The department could get more money. Mayor Eric Johnson on Wednesday plans to propose amending the budget to funnel more than $2.8 million to DFR building repairs and equipment. He is proposing the money come from a planned pension stabilization fund, although he publicly opposed using the fund as a source for other resources when that was proposed earlier this month.

Artis said he was looking forward to the new budget, saying he believes the extra funding could mark a turnaround.

“I’m just hoping and praying that the market gets a lot better and the delays that we’re currently seeing” getting broken equipment back on the streets go away by March, he said.