OCEAN CITY — A $1.2 million purchase of a replacement Ocean City Fire Department workhorse vehicle passed at City Hall this week amid some concerns about the department’s priority system.
The Mayor and Council reviewed Tuesday a request for a new heavy rescue truck for the fire department at an estimated cost of around $1.2 million. The apparatus is a workhorse for the department and does much of the heavy lifting in the case of emergency and also carries much of the department’s heaviest gear along with needed supplies.
The current heavy rescue truck has been in service since 1975 and is nearing the end of its useful life. Since taking the reins last spring, Ocean City Fire Chief Richie Bowers has been systematically renewing the department’s apparatus replacement schedule and the heavy rescue truck is the next on the priority list.
“It’s a primary unit for us,” he said. “We have to handle the emergencies because no one else is coming in a short amount of time. It is a hefty price tag, but it will last us many, many years.”
Assistant Chief Eric Peterson explained the unit is essentially a heavy-duty wrecker with winches, heavy-duty jacks, stabilization equipment, life-safety equipment such as spreaders and the “jaws of life,” large-area search equipment and even hundreds of feet of rope.
“It is everything and anything under the sun that we don’t carry on our engines,” he said. “It’s literally a tool box on wheels for every situation we could imagine.”
There is funding for the new truck available in the vehicle fund account to which the OCFD and the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company make annual contributions. Councilman John Gehrig questioned if the department’s current heavy rescue truck was still active and in use.
“Is this an emergency situation?” he said. “We just did the motors on the fire engines because that was a dire emergency. I’m just trying to figure out what we’re going to need next. This seems like a ‘nice to have.’ It seems like there are things on here we need and want, but might not be critical.”
However, Bowers pointed out the heavy rescue truck was next on the department’s priority list and would be needed sooner rather than later. He said there were other needs further down the priority list.
“There is no other immediate need,” he said. “There will be more needs down the road. We’re going to have to replace Tower 6 in two years.”
Gehrig pointed out the department in September requested and received $300,000 to replace the motors on two of its front-line fire engines. With the request to replace the heavy rescue truck, he wondered what might be coming next.
“I’d like to know what equipment we’re going to need in the next five years or so,” he said. “We need a plan for that fund. We need you to prioritize the equipment you need and how we’re going to fund it.”
Bowers assured the council Tuesday’s request was not frivolous.
“I did evaluate our needs and the plan to replace the heavy rescue truck has been in place for years,” he said. “If it breaks down tomorrow, I’ll be right back here asking to replace it. This is our priority. It’s a 1975 unit and we’re trying to avoid it becoming an emergency.”
Councilman Mark Paddack made a motion to approve the purchase. The motion was seconded by Councilman Matt James, who suggested getting this major expenditure off the books and re-evaluating the OCFD’s future priority list for apparatus replacement.
“I’d rather get this done,” he said. “Then, you and your staff go back and prioritize your list for the future.”
While Gehrig supported the department’s request, he said it shouldn’t just be rubber-stamped without some hard questions about the need and the financing. He said he resented how the council often tip-toed around requests from public safety departments because it is politically unpopular to ask the hard questions.
“One of the most annoying things up here is when we politicize public safety,” he said. “It seems like we’re afraid we’re not going to get re-elected or we’re going to get written up in the paper that we don’t support our employees. You just said it wasn’t a priority. It’s business and no business would run this way. I don’t know why we have to pre-empt everything we say with ‘I support public safety but…’ We all do. That’s a given.”
However, James asserted the request was rooted in improving and assuring public safety and was not a political football as Gehrig suggested.
“That’s what this is all about,” he said. “The money is in the fund and that vehicle needs to be replaced. It’s the oldest vehicle in the fleet.”
Paddack believed Bowers and his department would not be requesting the purchase if they did not believe it was a top priority.
“I do feel the same way about some of these major purposes,” he said. “Maybe we need a better system to predict what our future needs will be.”
The council approved the purchase of the heavy rescue truck with a 7-0 vote and instructed Bowers to review the priority list.
