BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Common Council was back to the drawing board on Tuesday afternoon as they worked to improve its snow response plan before any other storm hits Western New York. Among the items up for discussion is securing new equipment for Buffalo's bravest.
"I've heard from some people that say, 'You know no one's been hurt, no one's died because of the condition of the equipment.' Well, I'm not willing to sit around and wait for that to happen," Council member Chris Scanlon said.
Scanlon has introduced a number of resolutions following Buffalo's deadly and devastating storm. One of his resolutions includes a request to allocate federal funding to buy what he calls aforementioned equipment necessary for multiple city departments including Buffalo fire.
"But these are conversations that I've been having for years it's conversations and equipment that these unions and the people in this room have been asking for," he added.
In support of a new for new equipment, dozens of off-duty firefighters and Buffalo Firefighters Local 282 president, Vinny Ventresca. All of them attended Tuesday's meeting.
"We feel like the fleet has been ignored for a long time," Ventresca said.
Ventresca feels like the blizzard only shined a light on the fire department's limitations.
"It's really important that we're provided the proper equipment so that we can serve the citizens and we think the time is now to spend the money and get the equipment we need," he added.
Scanlon is also in agreement with Ventresca and purchasing new equipment for other city departments.
"We need to purchase equipment but we need to purchase equipment that's usable in this weather," Scanlon said.
Another concern for Ventresca is the firehouses are 'barely habitable.' Council member Bryan Bollman noted this concern during Tuesday's meeting.
"And I've heard from some of the Lovejoy district responders that they absolutely wanted to go out there and risk their life but they were lacking the equipment - he spoke to the station houses I heard some of the station houses don't have adequate heat," Bollman said.
Another point taking center stage, Scanlon and Council member Mitch Nowakowski pushed for the city to have an emergency manager.
"We have small municipalities in western new york smaller than the city of buffalo like Amherst and Hamburg who have this position stated because they made it a responsibility and priority in their towns and we need to as well," Nowakowski said.
Council members said this is only the beginning of these discussions.
"I'm talking about being able to provide the tools to the men and women of these departments to go out and perform their duties," Scanlon said.
7 News did reach out to a city spokesperson regarding fire department equipment concerns. The spokesperson said since 2018 $5 million worth of new equipment has been spent. They added in the most recent budget more money was allocated for two pieces of equipment for the department, and a new fire station is in the works in South Buffalo. The spokesperson emphasized the age of the fleet had nothing to do with the response.
