Are Tarrytown Firefighters Getting Hosed?

Last month, a dealer wheeled a demo version of a $620,000 Crimson Fire pumper truck into the garage at Riverside Hose Company. A handful of Tarrytown officials, who were in the process of picking out a new truck to replace a 22-year old model, joined fire chiefs to inspect the vehicle.

The officials saw a shiny, sleek, top-of-the-line pumper with a price tag that was significantly lower than that of Crimson Fire's competitors.

The firemen saw, to use the words of one, "a flimsy piece of garbage."

A couple of days later, on April 30, the Board of Trustees approved the purchase of the truck above the din of the firefighters, who claimed that a $688,000 model from manufacturer Seagrave would last longer and make the village safer.

"We feel like we've been shafted. This is the first time we've been turned down for a piece of equipment that we needed," said Riverside Hose Chief Patrick Derivan Sr. "We have a proven track record of ordering trucks that meet the needs of the village."

In an interview with Patch, Derivan, Captain Felix Sartario and ex-Captain Bill Logan said the Seagrave model met their specifications exactly, including requests for a cab that could hold ten firefighters and extra storage space for equipment that would be bought in the future, as the trucks generally last two decades or more.

Instead, they said, the Crimson Fire model can hold only eight people and has just enough space for the equipment they currently use.

Derivan and Sartario also said that the decision to purchase the cheaper truck was motivated completely by the price, and not the quality or craftsmanship. The officials added that, as a relatively new company, Crimson has an unproven track record.

"We asked Crimson for references, and every truck on the list was built in 2008 or after," Derivan said. "We wanted to see a truck that was ten or fifteen years old, and they couldn't show us one."

But Crimson President Kevin Crump said that the brand was founded in 2003 through the merger of two companies; Luverne Fire Apparatus and Quality Manufacturing. Luverne had been manufacturing firefighting equipment since 1912, Quality since the 1970s. That experience, he said, trumps the relative few years the Crimson brand can boast.

Crump couldn't comment on the Tarrytown purchase specifically, he said, because Crimson is a publically-traded company and only PR people can make comments to the media.

But he did note the relatively small market for fire trucks – about 5,500 are sold in the U.S. each year – and the positive effect that has on quality.

"One reality that exists in this industry is there is far more capacity to build these trucks than there is demand to buy them," Crump said.

"Competitive pressure is pretty keen among builders, and our business runs almost solely off of repeat customers. We strongly believe that if we don't do an impeccable job with every aspect of the build, that customer won't be back."

Riverside Hose cited some pieces of the truck that were made of plastic instead of steel, and thus unable to keep up with the rigorous, uphill wear-and-tear offered by Tarrytown's landscape.

These local issues, Derivan said, were unperceivable to East West Fire Apparatus, a consulting firm hired by the village to help out with the purchase.

"We were against hiring the consultant because we had always designed our own trucks," the Chief said.

"The consultants don't drive the trucks in town, they don't fight fires in town, they don't know what's going on."

He added that village officials promised the fire house the final say in the purchase, and then decided on the Crimson truck in private. Village officials only notified Derivan the night before their rare early-morning meeting to approve the purchase, he said.

The consultant, Kenny Wagner, did not return calls seeking comment. An earlier consultant with East West, Jim DiNapoli, also did not return calls. 

Mayor Drew Fixell said the fire chief's version of events is "wrong", and blamed Riverside Hose for engineering their specifications in such detail that only the Seagrave truck would do.

The fire truck committee "wrote its specs based on the Seagrave model, so of course it was the only truck that fit the qualifications exactly," he said.

That practice, known as a proprietary bid, is technically banned by a state law that requires municipalities to garner at least three bids on an expensive purchase. Riverside originally put through a proprietary bid on the Seagrave truck, but the Board struck it down in December, which was when the consulting firm was brought in.

Of three bids that were considered by the village after the consultant was brought in, Crimson was the lowest, and proposed a truck with a number of exceptions to the bid standards (firefighters put the number at 20 exceptions) listed. Seagrave had no exceptions to the standards set out in the bid.

"The process was done right. Competitive bidding is always the way to purchase expensive items," Fixell said. "We chose a first-class vehicle and saved the town $90,000.  If you reject this engine for trivial issues, you cost taxpayers money." 

Derivan said the mayor's statement about saving taxpayers' money was "unfair". The money the village is saving, which is actually around $60,000 (Fixell was referring to the Seagrave's original $727,000 pricetag), will be lost to repairs and a shorter lifespan for the Crimson truck, he said, adding that the savings would only be realized over the 20 years the village has to pay back the bond.

Derivan also pointed out that the town of Greenburgh pays the village over $220,000 a year for the Tarrytown Fire Department to cover the Greenville section of the town – an amount that is more than half the department's 2010-2011 budget. In effect, he said, Tarrytown taxpayers get Riverside's services for half price.

"They should be looking at us and saying, 'What kind of truck do you want? Oh, okay'," he said. "They look at us like we're draining their purse, but we are the front line of defense whether it's terrorism, storms, or any major fire events."

But at least one local fire official said the Crimson trucks are as good as any others, as the small market forces companies to compete fiercely for customers.

"There are extensive standards that manufacturers must meet, which are published by third parties" including the federal government and trade groups, said Scarsdale Fire Department Captain Jeff Gaskin. "Good, bad, or indifferent, it's just not up to the manufacturer."

It should be noted that Gaskin has done consulting work with East West Fire Apparatus Consultants – the consultants who were hired by the village.

Gaskin's fleet includes two Crimson trucks, one that was put on the road in late 2008 and the other last year. He said he has no complaints about the vehicles, and the company is "customer-oriented and addresses all of our concerns and questions."

He added that the small market also means that only a few companies make the engines, axles, transmissions, brakes, and other mechanical equipment that's used in the trucks. That means that any truck manufacturer – "except maybe a few fly-by-night guys" – is, by default, a reputable company because they all use similar equipment.  

For now, Riverside Hose will have to wait and see if their new truck makes them as happy as the Scarsdale firefighters purport to be. They expect to take delivery on the truck in ten to twelve months.

But Derivan is not optimistic.

"During the next election, the Trustees can say they saved the taxpayers money, but there's going to be a domino effect for other fire companies in town."