CFD Sends Ladder 23 and Crew on a Road Trip to Indy

But are we being taken for a ride?

According to an email Cedar Posts received this week, Charlotte Fire Department's retired Ladder 23 and its crew are heading north to Indianapolis later this month to make a five day appearance at the annual FDIC (Fire Department Instructors Conference), promoting fire department apparatus manufacturer Smeal.

Click on this banner ad from Smeal to see the Ladder 23 promo

 The conference will be held April 22-27 in Indianapolis were "Attendees are invited to stop and meet the crew and hear stories of Ladder 23's exploits, and share their own experiences."

The Smeal company web site promotes the appearance on another page:



CHARLOTTE LADDER 23 SETS NEW MILESTONE

40,423 CALLS AND STILL READY TO ROLL

That’s how many runs Charlotte Fire Department’s Ladder 23 made in its 10 years of service. The Smeal-built 105’ Rear Mount Aerial Ladder racked up 177,000 miles -- enough to travel around the world 7 times.

Photo Courtesy: Smeal Fire Apparatus Co.

Now in reserve status, Ladder 23’s long service life is a testament to the durability of Smeal Fire Apparatus Co. Ladder 23's stats are impressive to say the least:

In Service Date: 1/10/2002
Calls: 40,423
Miles: 177,000
Engine Hours: 13,550
Aerial Hours: 301
Fuel: 76,542 Gallons of Diesel
Oil: 1,890 Gallons
Tires: 158
Structure Fires: 806
Vehicle Fires: 201

Photo Courtesy: Smeal Fire Apparatus Co.

Photo Courtesy: Smeal Fire Apparatus Co.

The durability and longevity of Ladder 23 is why Charlotte Fire Department ordered another Smeal apparatus (a new 2012 - 105’ Rear Mount Aerial) to continue its legacy. Ladder 23 is now one of three Smeal units that is in reserve status.

Charlotte Ladder Trucks 23 Reserve and New 23 Photo Courtesy: Smeal Fire Apparatus Co.

New Ladder 23 joins Charlotte’s active Smeal fleet of 39 Engines and 15 Aerials. Charlotte Fire Department has an additional four Engines and two Aerials on order for delivery in the near future.

Captain Buddy Caldwell of the Charlotte Fire Department sums up the value of a reliable vehicle this way:

"A truck is a fire fighter's life for 24 hours when they're on shift. They trust that truck to be dependable, to get them to every call, and to function the way it's supposed to function when they get there. It's an integral part of their job. And it's all got to work."

Ladder 23 and its crew will be making a special appearance at booth 3537 at FDIC (Fire Department Instructors Conference), April 22-27 in Indianapolis, IN. Attendees are invited to stop and meet the crew and hear stories of Ladder 23's exploits, and share their own experiences.

Photo Courtesy: Smeal Fire Apparatus Co.

SMEAL EQUIPMENT..BUILT BETTER TO LAST LONGER

Cedar's Take:

Sounds like a good time will be had by all, except who is paying for this adventure?

Cedar Posts emailed CFD Captain Mark Basnight the department's PIO, asking about the trip, the costs, who was going and who was footing the bill. Captain Basnight responded by saying that our "source/information was inaccurate".

Basnight's, dodge leads CP to assume that you the tax payer is paying for this junket to Indy.

Beyond, employee costs, hours lost, meals and lodging there is the expense of moving a $750,000 piece of equipment 1200 miles round trip.

CP emailed Captain Basnight again asking if he was refusing to confirm or deny that Ladder 23 and Charlotte Fire Department personnel were traveling to Indianapolis for the FDIC event.

At 8:24 p.m. Captain Basnight responded with this carefully crafted reply:

From: "Basnight, Mark"

Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2013 20:24:53 +0000

To: Cedar Posts

Cc: McMillan, Kimberly<kmcmillan@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Dulin, Jeffrey<jdulin@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Granger, Richard<rgranger@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Hannan, Jon<jhannan@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Key, Howard<hkey@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Kinniburgh, Robert<rkinniburgh@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Basnight, Mark<mbasnight@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Beteta, Carlos<CBeteta@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Brisley, Robert<rbrisley@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Cannon, Robert<RCannon@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Gilmore, Jackie<jgilmore@ci.charlotte.nc.us>; Gist, Dennis<dgist@ci.charlotte.nc.us>

RE: Trip to Indianapolis

Once again thank you for contacting the Charlotte Fire Department, We sympathize with your quandary, however it is your responsibility and good journalism to allow enough time for an adequate response to meet your deadline. We will offer the following statement:

The Charlotte Fire Department will be allowing three firefighters and a reserve ladder company (formally Ladder 23) to attend the 2013 FDIC in Indianapolis. These three firefighters and the communities they serve will benefit from them attending one of the world’s premiere firefighter training conferences at the expense of the Smeal Corporation. Additional firefighters may choose to attend, however it will be at their own expense.

For any additional information, we stand by our original offer to meet with a representative of Cedar Posts in person to discuss any further details.

If you choose to rest your reputation and credibility on the word of your source that is completely your decision.

(Not including this entire response would be bias, inaccurate, irresponsible and poor journalism).

Eternally committed to duty & service,

Mark Basnight | Captain

Public Information Officer

Office of Media & Public Affairs

Charlotte Fire Department

228 E. 9th Street | Charlotte NC | 28202

704.336.2094 Media & Public Affairs Desk

Based on the above email, it certainly sounds like the trip is on Smeal's nickle.

Charlotte's Fire Department is now running almost exclusively Smeal Apparatus, which is built and headquartered in Nebraska, despite the fact that American LaFrance and Seagrave fire trucks are made here in the Carolina's.

Which makes you wonder what is going on?

If Smeal is paying for the trip what is the give back?

And whatever happened to the competitive bid process?

Well, North Carolina law is pretty loose when it comes to the rules under which the competitive bid process can be circumvented.

It is a given, that having the same source for all equipment, makes some sense. Many departments have their favorites, for years American La France was the single provider to FDNY which now has given those bragging rights to Seagrave, who makes fire fighting equipment in of all places Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Fire Engines and Ladder Trucks aren't cheap and with all the money that changes hands it seems reasonable that Charlotte's City Council might ask a few questions.

Which brings up a second point. Why in the world does Charlotte dispatch 3/4 million dollar rigs to unknown medical calls?

Ladder 23 ran 40,423 calls, of which 806 where structure fires and 201 where vehicle fires.

The rest? Looks like 39,416 where first responder calls. Meaning more than 97% of the 177,000 miles racked up over 10 years was for something other than fire. 

I got to admit, if I'm the guy having the heart attack, I don't care if they show up in a quint like ladder 23 or a moped. But much of the time these calls are for drunks passed out on a park bench. 

Wouldn't it be more cost effective to staff a dozen tricked out Ford 350 Rescue Units like they do in other cities?

CP doesn't know the answer, but folks who have lived in Charlotte awhile remember when the county took over the Mecklenburg Ambulance Service and later started training fireman to be EMT's and Paramedics as well. The reasoning was to "Supplement Medic" but now it may be time to look at a more cost effective solution.

And maybe the FDIC is a good place to compare notes with other departments.

CP Update:

Thanks to all who have commented on the above story. The point was not to say CFD was doing something shameful or to even point a finger. But it clearly hit a nerve. CP sources indicated the "several" department members were going to the FDIC event. This conflicts somewhat with Captain Basnight's final response. Except that he "hints" that other members might also be going at their own expense.

What is most interesting is Captain Basnight's intinal suggestion that we meet personally to discuss CP's questions about the trip. This ploy is common with CMPD's PIO who likes to use intimidation to suppress negative questioning.

Captain Basnight found himself in a tight spot, perhaps if the department had issued a press release several weeks ago when the decision was made to send one of "our" reserve ladder companies to Indianapolis, the Captain would have been more forthcoming.

The citizens and taxpayers of Charlotte have a right to know about these events. Sending a ladder company to represent Charlotte in Indianapolis is something we should all be proud of, sadly the clandestine manner in which it was planned and the "push back" response from our department diminished that fact.