Local officials are sounding the alarm on issues facing Pittsburgh’s public safety vehicle fleet.
The city of Pittsburgh reports significant issues with its emergency vehicle fleet, according to several local officials. The city’s fire and EMS services are in dire condition, a crisis that could impact the reelection bid of Mayor Ed Gainey. Experts have said that replacing the entire fleet of emergency vehicles in Pittsburgh could take more than a decade to fully complete. Gainey’s challenger, Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, criticized the administration’s handling of both the city’s finances and emergency services.
Jon Atkinson, the president of Pittsburgh’s paramedic and EMT union, described the condition of many of the city’s ambulances as a “sorry picture”. Atkinson describes the seats as dilapidated, with foam cushioning and cloth seating tearing apart, with the driver’s seat in the worst condition. Atkinson said some of the ambulances have been in operation for as many as 11 years and have racked up more than 124,000 miles from thousands of responses. Atkinson described it as the “kind of wear and tear these kinds of vehicles will endure over their lifetime.”
Other public safety leaders recently told Pittsburgh city council that the state of emergency vehicles was “dire” and needed to be addressed as soon as possible. Corey O’Connor, as well as other local officials, appeared to criticize Mayor Gainey for reportedly not having money set aside to address the crisis of emergency vehicles.
“Public safety should be the highest priority in the city, so there should be more money budgeted for public safety vehicles,” said Tim Leech, Vice President of Pittsburgh’s fire fighters’ union. Leech acknowledged that the issue was more complex than simply replacing older vehicles with newer ones. “This isn’t a problem that can be fixed immediately, but what it is going to require is a commitment and a long-term investment plan. Leech highlighted a recent proposal from the fire bureau that highlights ideal usage and replacement plans for the city’s fire trucks and ambulances. The proposal states that vehicles should be in service for no longer than seven years.
Brian Kokkila, assistant chief of fire operations, described an inefficient and costly replacement procedure. “We’re at times spending bad money to repair vehicles that should have been replaced 10 years prior,” Kokkila said. While the police fleet is in better shape, that too is coming up at a time where replacement of some vehicles will be necessary. Recently, the city’s police bureau purchased 60 new vehicles. In February, City Council reviewed a plan to replace the city’s snow removal fleet and purchase new ones entirely. The plan called for 20 additional vehicles to bring the city’s fleet from 103 to 123 to handle the unpredictable weather and rough terrain necessary for an efficient process.
While the replacement of all these vehicles would be extremely expensive, O’Connor highlighted some of Mayor Gainey’s financial troubles. O’Connor argued that one way to better address the needs of improving the city’s infrastructure would be to shrink the size of the mayor’s office. O’Connor has promised to gain “a couple million for the city” by cutting the “bloat” from Mayor Gainey’s office, which could speed up the timeline for replacing emergency vehicles.
