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(CBS) NEW YORK After Friday night's fall from a truck left a firefighter in critical but stable condition with a fractured skull, the issue of fire truck safety and maintenance has once again come to the forefront.
Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy blasted the FDNY on Saturday, citing the department's failure to address the issue of aging and unsafe trucks. FDNY public information officer Seth E. Andrews responded by saying the Department as well as Seagrave, the maintenance company in question, have made improvements in both safety and repairs of late.
Below is Steve Cassidy's statement from Saturday:
"Several months ago the UFA brought to the Fire Department and the public's attention a severe problem with the city's procurement process to replace aging fire trucks. This failure by the department was requiring older and in some cases unsafe rigs to be kept in service.
At the time WCBS-TV reporter Marcia Kramer conducted a multi-part investigative series highlighting this crisis and the dangers it could potentially create.
As reported, the problem of an aging FDNY fleet were being compounded by the department's purchase of new fire vehicles that have not worked properly and were declared unfit to be put onto the streets of New York.
These unresolved management issues took a turn for the worse on Friday night, when a firefighter almost lost his life responding to a Manhattan fire as he was ejected from an unsafe and almost 20-year old fire truck. How can it be that in a city with an annual budget of over $55 billion dollars that the lives of firefighters and the citizens we are sworn to protect depends on apparatus built in the 1980's when Ed Koch was Mayor?
It is clear that the city's procurement process is broken and taxpayers should be furious with the caliber of equipment the Fire Department is forcing its firefighters to operate with. Putting old and unsafe rigs and safety equipment on the streets endangers the lives of firefighters and civilians alike.
The lack of corrective action by the Fire Department has and continues to place firefighters and the public we serve in danger. The UFA will be conducting its own investigation into the circumstances of this tragedy in an effort to insure that firefighter and the public safety are not unnecessarily jeopardized."
Below is Seth E. Andrews' statement from Saturday:
"The Fire Department has been proactive in addressing the issue of procuring and repairing fire trucks. In fact, the FDNY has brought in both fire unions in an attempt to work together on this important task. Steve Cassidy is disingenuous in his comments regarding this.
Seagrave, the Wisconsin-based firm that provides the FDNY with its fire trucks, has experienced recent problems in meeting its responsibilities both in supplying new vehicles and making warranty repairs. The FDNY has been aggressive and relentless in pressuring the firm to improve, or risk losing our business. Since then, there have been measurable improvements and the FDNY will keep the pressure up to make certain Seagrave meets all of its contractual obligations.
The Department is committed to providing the best equipment for firefighters. As for the exact cause of this serious accident, we will wait for the results of investigations by our safety command and the NYPD."
Friday night's incident left three-year veteran Joseph Moore of Ladder Company 13 in critical condition after he toppled out of the moving truck while it was en route to a fire at a bagel shop at 1640 York Ave, department spokesman Kevin Nolan said. Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta went to the hospital, Nolan added.
The exact cause of the incident remains under investigation, but the fire truck was an older model from 1988 that had replaced the regular truck, which was being fixed, according to published reports.
Contrary to a report in Saturday's New York Times that said a faulty latch caused the fire truck door to swing open while Moore was standing inside, officials on Saturday said the door mechanism was working properly.
Moore, of Belle Harbor, is being treated at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center. It was reported on Friday night the injured firefighter opened his eyes shortly after the accident. On Saturday, FDNY officials said he showed some movement in his hands.
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