City Of Methuen Forced To Pay For Defective Fire Truck Repair
METHUEN (CBS) - The city of Methuen will have to foot the bill to repair the ladder truck that malfunctioned at a Christmas Day fire last year.
On Christmas Day in 2010, firefighters rushed to a fire at Shadi's Restaurant in Methuen. While the building was totaled, no one was hurt, but it was a close call because of faulty equipment.
Beams that help the truck remain stable failed, sending the truck crashing to the pavement. The firefighters in the bucket were dropped six feet as a result.
WBZ-TV's Diana Perez reports.
"They were able to remove the ladder away from the building and safely bring them back to the ground," said Chief Steven Buote of the Methuen Fire Department.
Pictures of the Sky-Arm, which is used to balance the truck when its bucket is extended, show the malfunction. Steel in its rear left arm was crushed under the weight.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports.
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The truck has been sitting in a DPW yard since the day after that fire and the Wisconsin manufacturing company came in and took out the defective part. They were then able to determine that all trucks should be taken out of service. Despite that, they are now they're not going to pay for the repairs.
"If it's their poor design, why am I responsible to have it fixed?" said Chief Buote.
Figuring out who is responsible isn't easy. The truck was built by a compnay that was bought out in the the late 90's.
That company, Oshkosh, says it only owns the technology for the Sky-Arm and while it suggested the trucks be put out of service, it didn't build the defective arm and isn't going to fix them.
Methuen's mayor and fire chief don't see it that way.
"We think they have an obligation to do that since it was a defective part," said Mayor William Manzi III of Methuen.
"They bought all the holdings of Nova Quintech, so with that should go the responsibility and liability of anything that was built under the name Nova Quintech," said Chief Buote.
Oshkosh has offered to fix Methuen's truck at a discount, but that's still upwards of $60,000.
There are nearly two dozen of these trucks in the U.S. and Canada, including one in Manchester, New Hampshire.
