Bazetta Township firetruck and fire station damaged by ‘mistake’

Staff report

BAZETTA

The fire chief is getting estimates for repairs to a township fire station after a cabinet door on the truck struck a support column on the station, causing damage Saturday afternoon.

Fire Chief Dennis Lewis said a firefighter attempted to close a cabinet door on the truck after taking firefighting clothing from the cabinet, but the door did not latch.

The cabinet contains hand tools such as axes, but the firefighter had placed his firefighting pants and coat in the cabinet temporarily, Lewis said.

The door popped back open as the truck began to proceed out of the McCleary-Jacoby Road fire station to answer a grass-fire call at 4:15 p.m., and the door struck a support column.

A supervisor responded to the fire in another vehicle, residents had extinguished it on their own, and the truck was not needed for the call, Lewis said. The truck is back in service at the Everett Hull Road fire station.

“He thought he closed the door, but it didn’t latch,” Lewis said. “It was a mistake. That mistake was coupled with another mistake.”

Lewis said he is addressing the mistakes with the personnel involved but it has not been finalized.

Lewis said he does not have an estimate of the damage that resulted.