Alexandria’s fire department is a little short – of fire engines, that is.
Fire Chief Adam Thiel must borrow an engine from Arlington County at times to make up for the department’s lack of serviceable engines, according to the Alexandria Times. The department has seven working engines and one ladder truck to cover the whole city.
Alexandria and Arlington have agreement that allows the closest engine available to respond to an incident, regardless of the jurisdiction.
The average age of Alexandria’s fleet of vehicles is between 10 to 15 years old, and engines have broken down while responding to emergency calls, Thiel said.
The department plans to spend $3.4 million to replace four engines and one ladder truck in 2012, but the new engines may not arrive until a year later – at about $600,000 each, the engines must be custom built.
