TEXARKANA - With its fleet of firefighting vehicles down by four under repair at once, Texarkana Texas Fire Department has borrowed a reserve pumper truck from its Arkansas-side counterpart.
A variety of mechanical issues including brake problems and a malfunctioning motor reduced TTFD's fleet of eight trucks - five front-line vehicles and three reserve - to four that are operable, prompting a call for help to the Texarkana Arkansas Fire Department, Texas-side Fire Chief Eric Schlotter said.
TAFD was happy to help by lending one of its reserve vehicles, Arkansas-side Fire Chief David Fletcher said. TAFD is left with two of its normal three reserve trucks, one of which itself is in need of work.
"That is kind of thin, but it's not so thin that I wouldn't help them out when we can, because you never know when we might have to reciprocate," he said.
TTFD is fully operational, with all five fire stations staffed and ready to respond to emergencies, and residents will not see a difference in service, Schlotter said.
"It's just a different vehicle, and most people don't really pay attention to what color red the fire truck is that shows up," he said. "It's a fully capable vehicle just like any of our other reserves."
The situation is somewhat unusual but not unheard of, both chiefs said. Schlotter said the situation was a matter of bad timing and noted that keeping such complex, heavy-duty vehicles in good repair is a continuous challenge.
"This isn't the first time that things kind of stacked up on us. It always seems like Murphy's Law, if it's ever going to really jump on us, it's with fleet issues," he said. "Every fire department fleet that I know of deals with the same issues."
When the TTFD trucks will be repaired is uncertain, but the city's fleet services employees are working to get them back in service as soon as possible, Public Works Director Dustin Henslee said.
"It's not something we would prefer to happen," Schlotter said. "We certainly don't like it when we're in this situation, but it is nice that we have partners, and it's why we maintain those agreements with all those partners. Our strength is a collective one. We're stronger because we have these partnerships with these other cities and agencies."