Equipment Failure Delays Another Detroit Response

June 24--Malfunctioning equipment plagued Detroit firefighters Sunday night as they battled a blaze in a vacant four-flat building on the city's west side.

The aerial truck from Engine 40 was already out of commission when the department was called about 10 p.m. to the fire in the building at Monterey and Wildemere streets, which is near West Davison and Dexter, according to Detroit Fire Department officials.

Fire had already spread throughout the building when crews arrived with a second aerial truck. It was the second time firefighters were called to the building for a fire Sunday night, according to the department.

Senior Chief Douglas Lyon said the second truck broke down at the scene. Despite passing a routine equipment check Sunday morning, the vehicle's engine stalled, and the outriggers used to stabilize the rig would not deploy, according to the department.

"They're getting older, and sometimes they break down," Lyon said. "We sent an aerial platform there, and that took care of that."

Lyon estimated the breakdowns delayed the arrival of an aerial truck by about 10 minutes. No firefighters were injured in the blaze, according to the department.

The Detroit Fire Department is operating with old, heavily used trucks and equipment while the city faces an estimated $380-million budget deficit.

Earlier this month, a report by emergency manager Kevyn Orr called response times for both the Fire Department and EMS "extremely slow" compared to other cities.

The department's average time is 7 minutes, partly due to old trucks and ambulances that are poorly maintained combined with a never-ending string of incidents, the report said. Detroit has had between 11,000 to 12,000 fires every year for the past decade, and firefighters have been responding with "junk" equipment, according to an unnamed fire captain in Orr's report.

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