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CCNTV6
  • 1 year ago

An investigation is underway into a recent incident where a fire officer fell out of a fire truck as it rounded a corner.
Acting Chief Fire Officer Andy Hutchinson tells TV6, it is not the first time this would have occurred, as at least four trucks were found to have had defective doors. Rynessa Cutting reports.

Transcript
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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