Cleveland’s fire chief said Tuesday his department would repair broken equipment that left his firefighters without a way to refill their air tanks inside city limits.
The comments came after newsnet5.com’s Derick Waller learned the department’s five air compressors were not operational. Instead, first responders had been taking daily trips to Valley View’s fire department fill up a Cleveland air tanker.
The department’s roughly 750 firefighters use those tanks, part of an apparatus strapped to their backs, to breath clean air when battling structure fires.
The local firefighter union filed a grievance complaining about the issue several days ago. “It’s kind of our life line. We need to have breathing air,” Association of Cleveland Firefighters President Tim Corcoran said. "We rely on our masks on a daily basis. We’re fighting fires every day. We need to have ample and quality supply of breathing air.”
Speaking exclusively to newsnet5.com on Tuesday, Fire Chief Angelo Calvillo confirmed the city’s compressors do not work. He blamed a taxed system, but said they’re working to make repairs.