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Petersburg fire truck garaged weeks over $100 repair

Posted at 7:39 PM, Feb 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-14 19:39:06-05

PETERSBURG, Va. -- Viewers in Petersburg reached out to the CBS 6 Problem Solvers about a fire engine that has been out of service for nearly two weeks.

The issue keeping the truck garaged would cost less than one hundred dollars to fix.  The old tire has to be taken off and the new tire mounted.

The station has borrowed a fire engine from Fort Lee, which surprised some leaders, since it would cost less than one hundred dollars to fix.

And in a city where every dollar counts amid a budget crisis, CBS 6 discovered that a local shop would even do the job for free.

"First of all, there's coverage, so there's no public safety issue there,” said Tom Tyrrell, Petersburg’s Interim City Manager.

Even with the city cracking down on expenses, CBS 6 asked why this inexpensive repair couldn't be made.

"We have a system that has integrity that matches up requisitions to payments and that's in place,” Tyrrell said. “There's nothing in that system that should have taken two weeks to fix a tire."

Tyrrell says he is concerned about why efforts weren't made to get Engine Five back in service sooner.

CBS 6 went to Leete Tire, who often does work for the city and found they'd do the job for free.

"I was just made aware of it today, I would certainly be willing in the essence of public safety to mount that tire for the fire department, no charge, if they just needed a tire mounted to get the truck back in service,” said Jerry Tatum, owner of Leete Tire.

This isn’t the only fire truck in need of repairs. The city's big ladder truck is also out of service, a repair estimated at $7,500 repair.

With the fire departments aging fleet in need of constant repairs the city's budget for the next fiscal year includes new fire trucks.

"We've been waiting for a couple years now to get new fire apparatus, that request for proposals is on the street, it's in the budget and they will come,” Tyrrell said.

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