00:00The fire service is investigating an incident where a fire officer was thrown from a moving
00:10fire appliance due to a manufacturer's defect with the door locking system.
00:16Acting Chief Fire Officer Andy Hutchinson also confirms to TV6 that it is not the first
00:22time this has occurred.
00:25Based on the doctor's report I received thus far is that he only has soft tissue injuries
00:32to the side of the knee and I think his arms.
00:36That vehicle I think is one of four vehicles that were bought at the same time that would
00:41have identified with locking issues on the doors.
00:46The manufacturer would have admitted to those issues.
00:50If they were dealt with at all, I am not sure if they were ever dealt with by the manufacturer
00:55or by TGFS up until this incident.
01:01In the past we would have had officers exiting the vehicle in the same manner, would have
01:09suffered more severe injuries.
01:11They have since recovered but the incident is not one that we are proud of.
01:18If it was repaired, again if it was repaired, that has been investigated at this time.
01:23The Acting Chief Fire Officer also reports that two officers injured back in January
01:28due to faulty equipment are still on injury leave.
01:32In January with the Skylift vehicle, we had two officers injured, Dice Peruse and Max
01:39Sween, they are both still on injury leave.
01:43Their injuries are a little more serious.
01:45On Friday, the Fire Service Association issued a press release demanding a meeting with the
01:51Fire Service and the Ministry of National Security, noting that this was the fourth
01:56such incident involving the defective water tenders.
02:00The Association further lamented that earlier this year, another officer was injured while
02:04using a faulty ladder and says these incidents underscore the severe risks posed to officers
02:12and inadequate maintenance practices.
02:15The Acting Chief Fire Officer tells TV6 he's always willing to meet with the Association.
02:22That I can facilitate once the Minister is available, I am available.
02:27But the Acting Chief Fire Officer says plans are already in motion to have some new equipment
02:33for the service.
02:34We have been successful in making down payments on four water tenders.
02:40On the 5th, we should be able to complete that process in the coming week.
02:49But as I said, these are new vehicles and the arrival of these vehicles will take approximately
02:5918 months before they get here.
03:02He says in the meantime, approval is being sought to carry out refurbishments on the
03:07existing equipment.
03:09It's not going to be sufficient, but we have to work with the funding that we get.
03:14We will be making representation for more vehicles, but it depends on the funding we
03:18get and the timeliness of the releases.
03:21Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
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