I-Team: Keeping its aging fleet ready to respond as Palm Springs faces delays in acquiring new fire engines

The Los Angeles wildfires destroyed more than 12,000 homes, businesses, schools, and other structures. They posed fresh reminders of how important it is to maintain our public safety services, including the fire department.

Closer to home, the City of Palm Springs is being forced to take additional steps to keep its emergency responders on the road and keeping us safe.

An I-team investigation scoured city council agendas and revealed staff reports that detail concerns about delayed emergency response times. 

There are two culprits. One is the increasing need for additional fire engine maintenance and repair work as the city's fleet of frontline fire engines ages, and the city is facing major delays in getting the new fire engines it's already ordered-- not in weeks or months, but years.

I-team investigator Jeff Stahl spoke about fire engine maintenance with a fire engineer, Rickey Gandhi who said, "So, just how you'd get a new vehicle off the lot compared to something that's 10 to 15 years older, would require a lot more maintenance." 

Gandhi engineers an Oshkosh Striker 1500 Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle that is still relatively new.

Records indicate it was one of two the city purchased in 2021 for $1.7 million combined.

These and other fire engines have a 15-year expected lifespan of 10 years for primary duty and another 5 years used as backups.

A statement from the National Fire Protection Association says, "The standard suggests that apparatus should provide 15 years of front-line service and then be turned over for reserve status."

The City says all of its four frontline fire engines were purchased in 2016 and need to be replaced.

While these older trucks still fall into national guidelines, aging vehicles require more service and repair time which takes them off the road more often.

A City staff report presented at a January city council meeting said, "This has resulted in extended downtime for repairs, leaving the Fire Department short fire engines to ensure efficient responses for public safety." 

Palm Springs Fire Chief Paul Alvarado said, "The problem is, I've got a four-year lead time from the time I place that order to the time they actually arrive."

The City ordered three new fire engines last January along with a new velocity 107-foot aerial ladder truck. Records indicate the cost was $5.6 million for all four vehicles.

But after the order...begins the wait.

COVID-related backlogs and production delays have turned what used to be a one-year turnaround for new firetrucks to arrive, to currently up to 4 or 5 years.

"I need to start placing orders sooner than I actually need the fire engines because I have to start forecasting ahead," Alvarado said.

The delays have the city turning to an Alabama company for help. Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus will provide emergency vehicle repair and loaner services at a cost of up to $925,000 over the next two years with contract extension options.

"So if it needs new wheels, if it needs new transmissions, motors, whatever it needs, they'll replace it while it's out of service," Alvarado said.

Brindlee Mountain loaner trucks will also be brought in while the city's trucks are taken out of service for refurbishment.

"It's really being innovative," Alvarado said adding, "You know, instead of just fixing things as they come up and talking about that out-of-service time again, we're getting ahead of it."

The new $925,000 contract has already taken effect. The fire chief says they expect the first rental fire truck to arrive in the city later this month.

Stay with KESQ News Channel 3 when it gets here and for continuing I-team coverage on public safety concerns around the Coachella Valley.