The City was without a ladder truck again last night for 2 hours. This morning the ladder truck is back out of service and the crew was operating out of a PICKUP again. Ideally the City should never be without coverage because the ladder truck crew should be able to switch into another ladder truck. Unfortunately the other ladder truck is also out of service due to major repairs. Pickup trucks should not be the replacement for fire trucks.
Contact City Hall and tell them.....The citizens of Allentown pay for and deserve around the clock safe coverage.
And at 6:30 pm: "Fire doesn't wait for replacement plans and out of service trucks. There was a working fire tonight and T2 is still out of service. Engine 11 had to act as the aerial which leaves the city with 1 fire engine left to respond to all the other responses. Good job Allentown Firefighters having to do more with less once again. This has gone on far too long, the citizens deserve better. Call City Hall and demand answers."
On scene 13th and Liberty Allentown House Fire with a Juvenile Transported to a Local Hospital.
I am having trouble mentally processing this....As the Ladder Truck. a Pumper, and the Allentown Asst. Fire Chief went "flying" by me on a call around 8:05am this morning. While I was in the Minuteman Press Print Shop at 18th & West Tilghman Streets Allentown.
ReplyDeleteHmm!!
The Old Allentown Curmudgeon
The ladder truck likely went down again after you saw it at 8:05 am
ReplyDeleteRumor has it that no new firetrucks are being proposed. But more cost-effective bags of marshmallows and long sticks are.
ReplyDelete@1:27
ReplyDeleteMore than likely they returned 5 minutes later because it was a false alarm. Once again these firefighters love to scare uneducated and uninformed people about how important and necessary they are. Where I live my volunteer fire department does just fine without all the complaining and scaring people.
You are definitely uneducated. Response times in a township can not even come close to a city's response time. Not by any fault of the Volunteers. Volunteers have to leave there lives to respond to a station to get the equipment which leads to increased response times.
DeleteA minute extra, when
discussing fires, can mean the difference between life and death or containing a fire to a room or a complete loss of a structure.
Have you ever been trapped in a room with intense heat and toxic smoke burning your lungs, completely disoriented? When you have please post how you feel about response times. You sound like the Mayor of Allentown with your overt hatred of Firefighters.
Call in the volunteers, Since it's a third class city. I'm sure they can show them how to maintain and operate equipment. They even raise their own money to buy what they need.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the responsibility of the Allentown Firefighters to maintain the mechanical readiness of your aging, broke down fleet. These issues they are having is not a problem of operation. It is 100% a failure on your part to manage a city waiting an impending indictment.
DeleteAlso since Allentown is a third class city you must provide your citizens a 24/7 Fire Department.Volunteer communities send in their Firefighters when your under staffed Dept. Goes to a third alarm. Not only that but you complain when they have to reciprocate. I would think mutual aid wouldn't bother "The Mayor of the Valley". Another one of your delusional statement. You must be off your anxiety pills.
You tell 'em, Fed Ed.
ReplyDeleteFear tactics? They had a working fire at 13th and Liberty. Guess what was not in service. Miraculously the aerial was put back in service after the fire. They do a great job with less all the time but they shouldn't have to. What s it going to take a Firefighter's death. I'm sure the Mayor would like that, one less pension.Money and his political well being is all he's cares about.
ReplyDeleteThe condition of Allentown's fire trucks is the Mayor's way of being vindictive to the IAFF 302 for not giving him the contract he wants. He has to be in control of everything he is involved with. The fire union stood up to him, took the city to court, and recently won a staffing decision. Now he is being vindictive at the expense of the residents safety. The Mayor cut new fire trucks from the budget before presenting it to City Council. The Mayor has not filled paramedic, police, and fire positions that Council approved in the budget for. Fed-Ed has shown distain for the city residents time and time again.
ReplyDeleteCity Center is planning on building high rises in the city but the fire department does not have the equipment to perform a rescue or to safely fight a fire in these buildings.
I am deleting all attempts to make this about career v. Volunteer firefighter. That's just a sleazy Fed Ed attempt to divert attention from his own irresponsibility
ReplyDeleteI like your 8:50 comment and if one were to take a look at the local news outlet gagicles and there afilliates one could see fed eds campaign contribitors and couter part deversionists are still using the heating seasonal cause clause to there advantage and the populuses disadvantage! There are more demonic forces spread far and wide in this team effort to destroy and dismantal as well as steel real property as well as collude to dillude in a effort to destroy and dismember intelectual properties as well in a team effort as well as been the norm for many many years by a centian sect of public and private trumatizing and terrorizing all naysayers.
ReplyDeleteThis is a horrendous and dangerous state of affairs in Allentown and mainly caused by public official No.3 and blindly accepted by Allentown City Council. To even think about putting up a 25-floor skyscraper without the capacity to fight a fire or rescue people is even more ludicrous. The NIZ board don't care, "just build it" and forget about the safety factors that should be undertaken before approval of public funds for an impending fire catastrophe.
ReplyDeleteThe idiots and misinformed who vote for Ed Pawlowski in the coming primary are just as delusional as he is. Please do the rest of the city a favor; don't vote or load up on sleeping pills that day!
Tragicomic. Does the pickup truck at least have a ladder in the back of it?
ReplyDeleteIf city council refuses to fund the Fire Department, How is this the Mayors Fault?
ReplyDeleteAnon@ 11:04 The Mayor presents the budget to City Council. All of the department and bureau chiefs make their presentation to City Council concerning their respective portion of the budget. We know that they have to "tow the line" to the Mayor's budget to keep their job, especially with this Mayor who will retaliate. IT is the Mayor's responsibility to adequately fund all functions of City Government, particularly public safety. This Mayor only looks at the headlines so he can brag about not raising taxes while the city becomes a welfare magnet.
ReplyDeleteIsn't the AFD taking students to school in fire engines ?
ReplyDelete11:04 sounds like Fed-Ed trying to deflect his lack of responsibility.
ReplyDeleteHow come all of this is just coming up now, prior to an election ?
ReplyDelete@2:50 PM....I don't know how many times I have to say it but this has been an ongoing problem since 2008. The problem is just getting worse over time.
ReplyDeleteJulian. If this has been an ongoing issue for the past decade, it certainly has avoided media attention.
ReplyDeleteWell I brought up the issue in 2015 at a city council meeting. Our local news media doesn't seem to do worthy news stories. Only reason they are probably doing a story now is because it's election time so blame the news media for their lack of coverage on issues. We don't even have any real investigative journalism in Allentown anymore. The morning call is a joke and WFMZ trails right behind them.
ReplyDeleteHas this issue been discussed at other City Council meetings since you did so two years ago?
ReplyDeleteI know it was brought up in 2008 when the issue first started.
ReplyDeleteFrom Local 302 Allentown International Association of Firefighters:
Ladder Truck 1 Out of Service, again, for major repairs. No estimated return to service date.
Ladder Truck 2 still Out of Service for undetermined major repairs. No estimated return to service date.
Engine 11 Out of Service mechanical issues
No Ladder Truck coverage in the City for the third time this week.
50% of the front line fire trucks in service tonight are from the 90s. AFD is one break down away from running out of a pickup truck Again.
Call City hall demand answers and a long term solution.
I can't remember much from ten years ago. Clearly this is an issue that was brought up due to the election. And it will fade away as fast as the losers do after it.
ReplyDeleteFed Ed, it was brought up by firefighters, as a matter of public safety, and you would fade away after the election but we won't forget you bc you'll be under indictment.
ReplyDeleteFed Ed is just dick bent because one of the members of his transition team......way back when..... who also happens to have been a fireman....might have been banging his wife
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ReplyDelete11.11.08: 1912 S. Delaware St. - At 09:05 Allentown transmitted the box for the above address for a house fire. The fire was reported to be under the rear deck. Engine 11, Engine 14, Engine 6, Truck 1 and Battalion 3 (Scheirer) responded on the box. Upon leaving their quarters, B/C 3 and Engine 11 reported heavy smoke in the area of the box.
ReplyDeleteB/C 3 reported a M/O/R with heavy fire and quickly transmitted the 2nd alarm. With the fire moving quickly, the fire in no time engulfed 3 homes and B/C 3 transmitted the 3rd alarm.
2nd Alarm: Engine 4, 13, air 1, car 40
3rd Alarm: Truck 2
Engine 11 was being repaired and the crew was in a SUV and Engine 9 was also being repaired. Both reserve engines were out of service and Truck 2 broke down on the fire scene.
One of the homes destroyed was that of a fireman
DeleteIf Allentown is in such a precarious state, then why are fire engines being used to take children to school each day?
ReplyDeleteFed Ed, This issue is one raised by firefighters, not candidates. When a child dies bc firefighters break down on the way to a fire, I hope state charges are considered in addition to federal corruption bc your refusal to fund this department is criminally negligent.
ReplyDeleteYou see this is what fed-ed is doing to the city but now that there's a new city of allentown pa mayor the department has gotten several new apparatuses engine 4 is now a 2015 perice arrow xt and engine 6 is a 2016 arrow xt. And now engines 11 9 4 are now all enforcers the city is certainly running on fumes with maybe of 1/2 of the department are frontline rigs and and only 1 reserve Ariel ladder that's at least 10 years old.compared to truck 2 and even engine 5 is at least a 1994 apparatus
ReplyDelete