Broken-down gear for saving lives

When Cape Girardeau fire chief Richard Ennis took his job three months ago, he asked one of the firefighters in charge of equipment to put a breathing apparatus in his official car. When he saw it, he said he was surprised to see that it was the same model that he trained on when he was a rookie firefighter in school 22 years ago.

"It brought back memories," he said.

Old memories are nice, but old fire equipment is something Ennis would prefer not to have.

Most of the breathing equipment that the firefighters wear while they're in a burning building is newer than the one stocked in Ennis' car. As chief, he spends most of his time at a fire as commander of the scene, so he seldom needs to enter a burning building. But even the equipment the front-line firefighters use is getting old.

In fact, Ennis says that most of the equipment at all the fire stations needs to be replaced: trucks, Jaws of Life rescue equipment, boats, and trucks.

Replacing and maintaining equipment is expensive, and when something out of the ordinary happens, it only aggravates the situation.

Recently, Engine No. 2, a 1998 truck, broke down. At a time when the fire department is trying to make do on a tight budget, a breakdown in a 6-year-old vehicle was a nasty surprise. Debris was somehow sucked into an air intake through a filter that was supposed to block debris from getting in. Some pistons were damaged, and the repair bill came to $8,700. But the warranty on the truck had long ago expired.

"Finance was not real happy about it," Ennis said, referring to the city's finance department. "They said 'ouch' and paid the bill. Stuff like this happens all the time."

Ennis' primary concern now is the 1986 model ladder truck that broke down while at the scene of a fire on Spanish Street early in March. It had just come back from being repaired two days earlier. Following the Spanish Street fire, a firehouse mechanic had to repair the truck at the fire site so it could be driven back to the station. It has been fixed again, but like other aging vehicles, it will continue to have mechanical problems.

Cape Girardeau needs at least one ladder truck, Ennis said. Neighboring communities can lend one in an emergency, but Jackson's ladder truck is too small for Cape Girardeau's needs. The only other ladder truck in the region is in Sikeston, too far to offer immediate assistance.

What Ennis would like to do is buy a new ladder truck, then have the current one refurbished completely at a cost of about $150,000 and put on reserve.

"That will give us two ladder trucks in the city, which we need since there are no other ladder trucks we can depend on in the area," he said.

Another option would be to buy a used ladder truck, then in eight or 10 years buy another one, putting the first one on reserve. That would give the city two newer ladder trucks and would allow it to retire the 1986 one it is now using.

A new fire truck costs about $350,000 and is designed to last for 20 years of active service, then another 20 in reserve.

"That's a criticism we continue to have, that we are paying too much for fire apparatus," Ennis said. "There are fire apparatus out there for $100,000, but they would not serve our needs as well."

Smaller cities buy $100,000 fire trucks, Ennis said. Those trucks have a smaller capacity for carrying firefighters, less pumping capacity, and they don't carry the equipment that firefighters need in a larger city.

Ennis said he would like to set up a rotation schedule for all the city's equipment, avoiding problems such as the one a year ago when the city was forced to get the new engine currently in use in the fire department headquarters.

Although the city recently got a new truck, it had to lease that vehicle because it couldn't afford to buy one. The engine it replaced was nearly 30 years old, still in front-line duty when it should have been in reserve.

"We are running apparatus 19 and 30 years old," he said. "They are already worn out."

Two pumpers on active duty are 30 years old, both 1973 models. One of those pumpers stood in for Engine No. 2 while it was out for repairs.

Although the vehicles are aging, they are well-maintained and their problems do not stem from misuse, the chief said. He counters one argument that fire trucks are wearing out faster because firefighters respond to all emergency medical service calls.

"An engine is capable of making 10 or 12 runs a day," Ennis said. "They are designed to do that."

Another piece of equipment that needs to be replaced is the Jaws of Life, which the fire department bought in 1986. The life expectancy for the extrication equipment is a maximum of 15 years. During an accident in March, the extrication equipment failed, and it took 20 minutes longer to get the victim out of the car.

"Fortunately it was not a serious injury and did not affect the outcome of the patient," Ennis said. "If it had happened on another day, or if we had a more serious accident, or if the patient was injured more seriously, the consequences would have been much greater, and it would have been a greater liability for the city."

On average, the rescue workers use the Jaws of Life once or twice a month, he said.

Newer extrication equipment is quicker to use and made of lighter materials. The newer equipment includes a power unit to operate the hydraulic pump, a spreader, cutter and an item called a "ram" that displaces the metal even further than the spreader, Ennis said. The new equipment is all in one unit. What the department has now needs to be assembled at the scene.

A new Jaws of Life costs about $30,000. A new fire truck runs at least 10 times that much. About $3,000 will buy a breathing apparatus for one firefighter; there are 59 firefighters in the four stations.

"Good, safe, effective firefighting is not cheap," Ennis said.

Ennis would like to have a system where he can buy 15 or 20 new sets of protective clothing every year and replace them on a four or five-year rotation.

"Our gear is just old," Ennis said.

Currently the department has three different types of breathing apparatus ranging from 4 to 20 years old. Each one should last 10 years, he said. The breathing tanks have to be pressure-tested every five years, and some of the older equipment fails the pressure test.

"We're constantly rotating breathing apparatus," Ennis said. "It's nickel and diming us to death, only it's really 50s and 100s, not nickels and dimes."

Also on his shopping list is a new cardio-monitor defibrillator to replace one bought in the early 1990s.

And the fire department needs a larger rescue boat.

"We are primary responders to the river," Ennis said. "The current Coast Guard station is in Paducah, Ky., and the Coast Guard and Department of Natural Resources depend on us."

Since Ennis has been chief, the fire department has responded twice to incidents on the Mississippi. He said he is concerned especially about possible river accidents resulting from the upcoming demolition of the old Mississippi River bridge.

Ennis said he is grateful for the sometimes creative ways the community and agencies have helped equip the fire department. Bootheel Buggies and the Kiwanis provide two new personal watercraft each year for river rescue. The watercraft are larger than jet skis -- they can seat two people and are used for river rescue. Bootheel Buggies has donated the crafts for the past couple of years. The returned watercrafts are sold as used equipment.

In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration has provided grants to help upgrade firefighting equipment at the airport.

Until a larger funding source makes improvements possible, Ennis said his department will "continue to roll the dice as to what days things are going to be operable, maintain what we have and hope for the best."

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160