[StBernard] St. Bernard Fire Dept. Gets New Mini-Pumper

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard's Fire Department has received a mini pumper fire truck that
would be easier to maneuver among trailers in case of a fire and it will
help replace numerous vehicles worth about $5 million lost in Hurricane
Katrina's flood, Fire Chief Thomas Stone said.

Parish Council members on Wednesday looked over the $127,000 vehicle that
was bought used from a Pennsylvania supplier, with 16,500 miles on it.

"It can get in smaller spaces because it is maneuverable'' but also has the
capability to put a lot of water on a fire and is called a quick attack
truck, Stone said.

It could be used to fight a blaze at a trailer travel site, which might not
have room for a regular size fire truck, he said.

Getting the new truck not only helps the department but "it picks up
morale'' among firefighters to receive good equipment, Stone said.

St. Bernard lost about 15 vehicles in the flood waters because of salt water
damage but managed to save four new trucks by getting them out of the parish
before the storm, the chief said. He estimated the losses to be worth a
total of at least $5 million.


He expects the Federal Emergency Management Agency to replace vehicles that
were lost, Stone said. "I'm not taking no for an answer.''

Currently his department is down to only eight vehicles, he said, but has
responded to at least 40 fires since the hurricane, as well as medical
emergencies.

The latest fires were nearly simultaneously on Monday afternoon. There was a
smoky blaze that started in the kitchen of at a home on Ventura Drive in
Chalmette and was called suspicious by authorities because there wasn't any
gas or electricity to the brick veneer home. The other one was on Suzi Drive
in eastern St. Bernard, Stone said. No one was injured. 

Firefighters also recently had to battle a fire that started in a five-story
heater boiler at the Targa gas plant at Yscloskey but no one was injured,
Stone said.



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Stone has also started his annual prayer for rainfall for the New Year's
holiday because he is concerned this is the worst possible year for people
to explode fireworks in St. Bernard Parish. 

He said he could hardly believe it when "We had someone call and ask us for
a permit to shoot fireworks'' this year.

Fireworks, while legal in parts of some parishes in the New Orleans area at
New Year's, have been banned in St. Bernard more than 20 years. People can
be arrested for selling or exploding them.

However, there are often large numbers of fireworks shot throughout the
parish on New Year's Eve and Jan. 1. Several fires, including one that
burned part of a Catholic school several years ago, have been attributed to
bottle rockets.

Stone said he hopes it rains to keep areas too wet for fireworks to do much
damage.

But all the ingredients are there for a blaze caused by fireworks, he said.
The large number of abandoned homes in St. Bernard, the blue plastic roofs
on homes with roof damage, large piles of dry debris and the increasing
number of travel trailers make this the worst possible time for anyone to
explode fireworks, Stone said, adding the danger is too great. 

"You have to realize we have limited locations (of fire trucks) for quick
response,'' Stone said. And, with fewer residents, there are fewer people to
see and report a fire before it is out of control and threatening more than
one structure, he said.