Photo: Facebook / Ogdensburg Professional Firefighters Local 1799
Sometimes, things fall apart. The Ogdensburg fire department from Upstate New York was responding to an emergency call when it lost the rear axle on one of its main engines.
The incident occurred at the end of last month, when firefighters were responding to a call to stand by at a meth lab, while police broke inside. On the way there, the unit’s third engine lost its rear axle while in motion, which could have been catastrophic, as the department writes on Facebook.
Luckily, no one was injured – neither civilians, nor firefighters. The bad news is that the department is now left with only 2 main engines and an old quint, hoping someone, somewhere will hear about their troubles and help them out.
“This afternoon Ogdensburg fire was requested to stand by at a meth lab on New York Ave. Unfortunately our 3rd engine (1994) never made it. Luck was with us as no by standers or members were injured. This very easily could have been catastrophic,” the fire unit writes on social media.
“Also, this now leave us with our 2 main line engines and our 1993 quint. In the event one of our main line engines were to need repair that leaves us with our Quint running first due. Hopefully a solution will be determined quickly,” the post adds.
Commenters from Ogdensburg claim that this malfunction should have been prevented had yearly inspections been done properly. They also say that the engines are hardly ever used, so even if they’re old, they should still function accordingly and not lose their axle when they’re rushing to an emergency.
That said, maintenance costs and fees to replace equipment (not to mention buying new engines) run very high. For a small town, the costs can be overburdening. The solution to the problem will not come from pointing fingers at the firefighters who run and use the engines.
Luckily, no one was injured – neither civilians, nor firefighters. The bad news is that the department is now left with only 2 main engines and an old quint, hoping someone, somewhere will hear about their troubles and help them out.
“This afternoon Ogdensburg fire was requested to stand by at a meth lab on New York Ave. Unfortunately our 3rd engine (1994) never made it. Luck was with us as no by standers or members were injured. This very easily could have been catastrophic,” the fire unit writes on social media.
“Also, this now leave us with our 2 main line engines and our 1993 quint. In the event one of our main line engines were to need repair that leaves us with our Quint running first due. Hopefully a solution will be determined quickly,” the post adds.
Commenters from Ogdensburg claim that this malfunction should have been prevented had yearly inspections been done properly. They also say that the engines are hardly ever used, so even if they’re old, they should still function accordingly and not lose their axle when they’re rushing to an emergency.
That said, maintenance costs and fees to replace equipment (not to mention buying new engines) run very high. For a small town, the costs can be overburdening. The solution to the problem will not come from pointing fingers at the firefighters who run and use the engines.
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