Houston’s new $1.5 million ladder truck too big to fit inside station, HFD says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston’s fire department has a brand new ladder truck, but as of now, it’s sitting in an empty city parking lot. That’s because it doesn’t fit inside the station.

Both officials at City Hall and the Fire Department insist that the mistake won’t impact public safety.

They said the plan now is to renovate the fire station so the truck fits better inside.

Fire Station 61, near Almeda, Genoa, and Monroe, has served southeast Houston since 1968.

But three years ago, the fire department requested a new ladder truck to replace the one firefighters had been using for several years.

Houston’s city council approved spending nearly $1.5 million on it.

But, that truck may have come with a shoehorn.

When the new truck finally arrived this June, fire officials say, the new truck was just slightly too tight for firefighters to get in and out safely.

“Under the last administration, they didn’t clearly measure, and so there is a piece of apparatus that does not fit in a bay at Station 61,” Mary Lancton, the president of the Houston Professional Firefighters Association, said.

According to HFD, fire officials had measured the facility.

They say they knew the size of the new truck.

But, they say they just didn’t realize how tight a fit it would be.

Officials say modern equipment has gotten bigger, and cities across the country are finding themselves in the same tight squeeze.

“This is three years that we’ve been waiting for this ladder truck,” councilman Joaquin Martinez said. “It is frustrating, it is disappointing.”

Fire officials said they are working to get an estimate on the construction of the bays at the station, and hope to know how much it will cost sometime this week.

Councilman Martinez said he hopes the renovation will be completed in the next few months.

As for changing the process for how the city makes these types of purchases, neither the councilman nor the fire department had specific answers.

But, surely, there’s room for improvement.

HFD sent the following statement.

“The Houston Fire Department received a new ladder truck on June 9 intended for Fire Station 61. While the ladder truck fits in the bay door, the clearances are narrow, and when combined with the grade of the driveway, it is currently unfeasible to keep the ladder truck in service at this location. We are working with the General Services Department to reconstruct the bay door and provide safer clearance for the new apparatus. Once construction is completed, Station 61 will receive the new ladder truck. The current ladder truck will remain at the station so response is not interrupted.”

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