No one to change a flat tire in Memphis. Fire truck out of service for 7 hours.
Firefighters from Station 39 in Memphis, Tennessee were unavailable for seven hours on Tuesday because the city didn’t have anyone to fix a flat tire. Here are the details from WPTY-TV’s Jeni DiPrizio:
The city used to contract with Around Town Tire and Trucking for tire repairs. The contract was cancelled in May, after the FBI started investigating the tire repair company and its city contract.
Joe Norman is the spokesperson for the Memphis Firefighter’s Association, “To have a piece of equipment out of service for any amount of time is unacceptable. It left the citizens unprotected. To sit there an hour, two hours, five hours is unacceptable and completely ridiculous.”
The Memphis Fire Department used to be responsible for its own truck repairs. Two years ago, the city’s General Services Division became responsible for the trucks and that’s when the contract with Around Town Tire was implemented.
A spokesperson for the city said there was a temporary agreement with a company to fix flats that ended yesterday. Now, a new “stop gap” measure is in place to fix flats after hours. However no one from city has clarified what that stop gap measure is.
Earlier this month, Mayor A C Wharton hired a consultant to look at problems in the General Services Division. It is also under FBI investigation.
