NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — This summer, is there a hotter job in New Orleans than being a fire fighter? They have to go from the frying pan that we’re all living in to the fire.
So how do they recover from wearing all their protective gear in 100 degree heat while fighting a fire? They don’t have as many options as they should. During this blazing summer in New Orleans, four of the city’s fire stations and as many as a third of its fire trucks have broken air conditioners.
“It will be winter time before these things actually get fixed,” New Orleans Fire Fighters Association President Aaron Mischler told WGNO news while standing in front of Fire Station 4 on Downman Road, one of the stations with no a/c.
It’s not just the fire department. The NOPD, Civil District Court and multiple libraries have also reported air conditioning issues this summer.
Part of the delay to fix them, according to Mischler, is a city requirement that any expense over $1k must go through the bid process.
“It slows the process down to 4 to 6 months before anybody even comes to put their hands on the issue,” Mischler said.
We asked Mayor LaToya Cantrell if there is anything the city could do to speed up the process. Cantrell replied, “We have to make sure that we’re doing the right things, meaning, going through that process of securing the contract appropriately, and that’s what we’re doing.”
A spokesman for the mayor later told us that the mayor would be interested in seeing any ideas to improve the bidding process.
Soon, the council could make a change. Councilman Joe Giarrusso wants to increase the minimum threshold for the city to require a bid to $10k, which he says is in line with the state and some parishes.
“It takes forever for this process to happen,” Giarrusso told WGNO News. “What can you possibly buy for a thousand dollars?”
Giarrusso expects the council to vote on his plan during its next meeting. He says that most of the air conditioning issues could be solved for a few thousand dollars each.
“You need to have balance so government doesn’t just spend money freely, and you know what you’re getting. But you can’t have all this red tape at the same time,” Giarrusso said.
The city is using portable air conditioning units to try to make the four fire stations more comfortable, but fire fighters say on the hottest days, the temperature can still reach 90 degrees inside. Some have been given the option to stay at the next, closest station with working a/c, but they worry that could delay their response time for emergency calls.
As for the fire truck with broken air conditioners, a spokesman for the city sent WGNO News a statement from NOFD Superintendent Roman Nelson in which he says that several of the trucks are 15 years old or older. He adds that the city expects to get 5 new fire trucks this year and a sixth next year. Also, another 8 trucks have been ordered, but due to backlog issues, it could be three years before the final trucks are delivered.
