With fire apparatus orders taking two or more years to complete, Ottawa City Hall decided to get ahead of the need and is ordering a new fire truck and two ambulances, 1430wcmy.com reported.

The city’s still waiting for a tower truck the fire department ordered in January, the report said.

To try to make sure the city can replace other vehicles when it needs to, Ottawa’s city council Wednesday approved around $1.6 million in purchases to be completed possibly as late as 2026, the report said. A city official said the two ambulances, which cost $348,181 each, would arrive at different times: 2024 and 2025.

The fire truck could take three-and-a-half years. Its cost is $948,000, the report said.

Thomas Tracy, John Annese
New York Daily News
(TNS)

A charter boat skipper says he’s blameless in the death of Belgian firefighter aboard a FDNY craft that crashed into his boat in New York Harbor.

Edward Mattiace, captain of a 36-foot charter boat named The Honcho, has asked a Brooklyn federal judge to clear him of any liability in the death of the Belgian firefighter, Sgt. Johnny Beernaert.

The Belgian firefighter was an unauthorized guest aboard the Fire Department’s Marine 1 Bravo, a 31-foot rigid-hull inflatable fireboat, when the crash occurred about 10 p.m. on the night of June 17.

FDNY Bans Civilians on Fireboats After Death of Belgian Firefighter

Mattiace, who operates under the name New York City Boat Tours, claims he did everything right when a still-unnamed firefighter piloted FDNY Marine 1 Bravo a high-speed joyride, and slammed into his boat near Pier 11, according to the court filing.

In court papers, lawyers for Mattiace maintain he going about 5 mph southwest on the East River, “with his running, navigation, and all-around white mast lights on and functioning properly, while maintaining a proper lookout, and in full compliance of the Inland Rules of Navigation.”

It was the FDNY boat’s pilot who failed to follow the rules, by speeding, not having enough crew members or a proper look-out, and not having the proper lighting or navigation equipment, Mattiace’s court papers say.

The tour company accused whoever was piloting the FDNY boat of taking its four civilian passengers out on an unauthorized “harbor tour.”

Marine 1 Bravo was traveling northwest at a “high rate of speed and without all available navigation equipment” and “without the proper lighting being displayed,” according to the filing.

“Without any negligence” on the part of The Honcho, Marine 1 Bravo “struck the Vessel on her portside bow at a high rate of speed of over 22 miles per hour in violation of the Inland Rules of Navigation,” Mattiace charges in court papers.

The Honcho’s six passengers were uninjured.

The FDNY boat was ferrying Beernaert and his wife, along with a retired FDNY firefighter and his wife.

Beernaert’s estate has filed a notice of claim to sue the city. New York City Boat Tours and Mattiace are asking for a judge’s order either clearing them of any liability for the crash, or limiting their liability to just $25,000 — the post-crash value of the Honcho.

The FDNY has not yet identified the on-duty firefighter at the helm of the boat, and as of Wednesday, the FDNY and Coast Guard’s investigations into the crash still hadn’t wrapped up, according to officials at both agencies.

After the crash, the FDNY dry-docked three Marine 1 fire officers — a lieutenant, a captain and a battalion chief — afterward, by pulling them from their regular duties and giving them administrative jobs within the Marine Unit.

Neither the firefighter on the boat, who the Fire Department says passed all drug and alc

Benjamin Joe |
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, N.Y.
(TNS)

Dec. 8—The purchase of a new ladder truck by the City of Lockport’s Fire Department was voted down by four votes in a divisive meeting of the Common Council Wednesday night.

Opponents of the $1.6 million purchase said that they had already bought a 21-year-old ladder truck and would not pursue buying a new model although the lifespan of ladder-trucks are typically 25 years.

Fire Chief Luca Quagliano said in his presentation for purchasing the truck that the cost of the vehicle would go up as time went by and if the council did not vote “yes” it would be missing savings to the tune of $70,000. He also noted the 21-year-old vehicle was only a “stop-gap” ladder truck in order to continue service for four years while the new model could be built.

Common Council President Paul Beakman asked what the price of the ladder truck would be in two years and the answer was that it could potentially be as high as $250,000 more than the current asking price.

To order the truck — which would be built in 660-days — a commitment from the city was needed, which included authorizing a bond for the amount. Mayor Michelle Roman said that did not mean the amount would be bonded immediately to purchase the vehicle and that it wouldn’t be until 2025, when debt service for the last bond bringing the city out of fiscal distress ended, that the bond may be used. She also noted other funding sources may be presented, in which case the money wouldn’t be bonded out.

However, this did not convince four of the six aldermen and alderwomen and in the end, only Beakman and 3rd Ward Alderman Mark Devine voted to buy the ladder truck.

“I would like a brand-new Jeep,” 2nd Ward Alderman Luke Kantor said to the US&J after voting not to commit to buying the ladder-truck. “I can’t afford to buy a brand new Jeep, so what do I do? I start looking for a Jeep that’s a couple years less. That’s how we’ve got to run the city. I think we’ve got to be responsible.”

Alderwoman-at-Large Gina Pasceri noted she, 5th Ward Alderwoman Kristin Barnard, 4th Ward Alderwoman Kitty Fogle and Kantor were attacked verbally by members of the public for not voting to get the truck.

“We have spent money in the Fire Department for the last year, so for anyone to say that we’re dismissive of them and don’t care. In a year we’ve spent almost $1 million to $800,000 for new equipment for them,” she said outside City Hall. “So for them to attack me and say I don’t care about the Fire Department, that I’m playing politics with the Fire Department is 100% a lie.”

Lockport business owner Kathy O’Keefe was also at the meeting and said she was not in favor of buying the ladder truck at this time.

“I’m not buying a car in the middle of the aftermath of Covid, because of the cost,” O’Keefe said. “Maybe if you do kick the can for a couple of years. Maybe the prices will flatten out a little bit. Then it won’t be so bad and you can order it after two years.”

To Beakman, though, the vote strengthened his belief that he voiced during the meeting, though no one addressed his concern.

“I believe there’s a movement to abolish the Lockport Fire Department,” he said.

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