The Stratford Fire Department’s fleet will hopefully soon be at full capacity once again.
At the infrastructure, transportation and safety subcommittee meeting on July 24, the committee approved the procurement and the repair of two different vehicles in the department’s fleet.
The most costly was the replacement for the 2007 Rosenbauer Engine, known as Engine 2, which was scheduled for replacement in 2027.
During a recent maintenance procedure, the frame and chassis mounting were found to have heavy rust jacking resulting in the rear spring bracket mounting hardware snapping the heads off the bolts holding it in place.
Though not yet deemed unsafe, fleet technicians recommended its replacement prior to more rust jacking continuing.
Rust jacking occurs when layers of rust bow and push out, permitting divots in the frame and allowing foreign debris to enter between the layers and cause damage. As a result, the frame eventually rusts out or breaks completely
Coun. Brad Beatty asked Fire Chief Neil Anderson how something like that could have happened with employees driving these vehicles every day, not to put blame on anyone but to move forward in the future and not have this happen again.
Anderson said the City of Stratford does not employ any emergency vehicle technicians and anytime a vehicle has to be brought to a mechanic, it has to be outsourced to a trucking agency in the area or a shop in Brampton that they go to.
On this particular occasion, a driver was doing a daily inspection and found an empty hole where a bolt was missing. After further inspection, the rust jacking was discovered.
“I cannot answer further how that could happen without having our own professional mechanics in house,” Anderson said, though he also indicated the department now undercoats all vehicles and has since 2017. It was a practice he put in place when he joined the department.
As noted in the management report, Pumper 1, a quintuple combination pumper apparatus, was removed from service due to rust jacking in 2015. That was the last time the local fire department had the ability to respond to emergencies with two aerial vehicles.
The committee approved the procurement of a Pierce manufactured quintuple combination pumper, returning to the 2015 service level of having an aerial vehicle and a backup for when the primary vehicle is in service.
There were a number of reasons Anderson recommended a Pierce manufactured model. The service garage is in Woodstock rather than Brampton, which is considerably closer. Pierce is known as a reliable manufacturer. Additionally, Pierce will provide a 5.5 per-cent rebate if procured through Canoe Procurement Group, which Anderson also recommended.
Buying second hand, given the current market, was not advisable; nor was buying custom, which wouldn’t be delivered until late 2027 and would be expensive.
The cost is expected to be $2.2 million, with $715,000 coming from the development-charges reserve (which has a total of $1.5 million within) and $1,485,000 coming from the fire capital reserve fund.
Additionally, repairs were approved for another vehicle in the department’s fleet. Unit 2, the call sign for the Stratford Fire Department’s 2019 Dodge Ram pickup truck, was involved in a collision in June that resulted in repairs estimated to cost $28,025 and will take four to six weeks to complete.
Anderson stressed that the driver of Unit 2 was not injured nor were they found at fault.
The vehicle was purchased in 2019 and has a 10-year lifecycle, meaning it is only expected to run until 2029. A new vehicle is estimated to cost between $90,000 and $95,000 and would have a financial impact on reserves, as a new vehicle isn’t expected until 2029.
Additionally, it would take about a year for a new vehicle to be delivered and, as noted in the management report, there are time sensitive pressures facing the department that would result in impacts to service delivery if not replaced soon.
After a question from Coun. Mark Hunter, Anderson confirmed that after repairs, the vehicle is expected to reach if not exceed its 2029 lifecycle expectation.
Both decisions were done at committee level and will be brought before Stratford city council for final approval.