Aging Truck Fleet Plagues City Fire Dept.

They are the clanging, wailing objects of desire of every boy under 10 years old. They are the crimson defenders of homes, forests, lives and all things combustible.

In the case of the city, at least, the firetrucks are also old.

Recent cutbacks in fleet funding for the Los Angeles City Fire Department have caused a backlog in rescue-vehicle repairs and a slower replacement rate--some of the trucks date back to the 1950s, said fire officials. The aging fleet is also taxing 35 overwhelmed mechanics whose job it is to maintain more than 900 rescue vehicles.

“We’re nine mechanics short,” said Fire Capt. Donald Frazeur.

Frazeur, who is in charge of procurement and maintenance of the $72-million fleet, said his section has been underfunded for three years running with no relief in sight. That has caused a shortage of reserve vehicles--the Fire Department’s second line of defense. When a truck breaks down there is usually an older reserve vehicle ready to take its place in case of an emergency--and there is always an emergency at the Los Angeles Fire Department.

“For next year I’ve requested $30 million,” he said. That is the amount needed to bring the fleet back up to normal levels, he said. “We don’t expect to get that--I expect we’ll get about $8 million. Right now we are at critical levels with the ladder trucks and ambulances.”

The department owns 194 pumper trucks, which carry hundreds of gallons of water and can cost $250,000 each. Even more expensive are the 67 ladder trucks owned by the department, which cost upward of $550,000 each. The department also owns 113 ambulances, 33 of which are reserves. Only nine of the reserve ambulances are in working condition, Frazeur said.

Department policy on most of the vehicles is to run them for 15 years in regular use and five more years as reserve vehicles.

“These days we keep them for 20 years on the front line and 10 years on backup,” he said. “We have front-line trucks that date back to 1957.”

Many of the firetrucks are obsolete, he said, and lack such standard features as anti-lock brakes, diesel engines or enough storage space for all the new firefighting equipment devised over the years.

Convertible trucks were also a problem. Los Angeles firefighters once used these uniquely Californian trucks instead of hardtops because of the greater peripheral vision they gave drivers. But all 71 have been converted into hardtops.

“These days the closed cab is critical for all the new electronic systems we now have,” he said. The department started phasing out convertibles in the 1980s, but not quickly enough, said Frazeur.

The department tries to preserve the aging fleet by rotating vehicles through fire stations. Hot spots around the city include Pacoima, North Hollywood and Van Nuys, and Frazeur said fire engines throughout the San Fernando Valley have high mileage because of the large swaths of territory between stations.

Frazeur said he bargain-shops for low bids on specifications issued by the Fire Department. He said he also tries to keep a vigilant eye on new firefighting technology--but innovation can be a mixed bag.

“We bought two Humvees for brush and grassy areas--off-road areas,” said Frazeur, who called the all-terrain vehicle tractional, but impractical. “They were pricey and didn’t have much payload. They were a poor choice.”

The Humvees, which gained notoriety in the Gulf War, cost the department $110,000 each.