DC Council strikes down $25M contract for new fire trucks amid union concerns

The D.C. Council voted late Tuesday afternoon to disapprove a $25 million contract that could have brought 18 new fire engines to the city, raising concerns first reported on by the News4 I-Team weeks ago.

Everyone agrees there’s a need. D.C. Fire and EMS said almost 30 engines are beyond service life.

The I-Team first reported earlier this month about the plan from Fire Chief John Donnelly to hire a company the city has never used before to build trucks.

The chief said the company HME out of Michigan was the only one that could deliver trucks amid a nationwide backlog. And according to Donnelly, there was no competitive bid for this deal.

Both the fire chief and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser defended the contract to the Council hoping to save it.

In a letter, the mayor said it’s “the fastest, most cost‑effective path to stabilizing our fire engine fleet and protecting the safety of our residents.”

D.C. Fire and EMS said the first engine scheduled to be delivered in December would have gone through third party  testing before the District proceeded with an additional 17 units. The contract could have been canceled any time after that.

But the head of D.C.’s fire union has raised quality and safety concerns with how the fire trucks are built.

That was echoed Tuesday by Councilmember Brooke Pinto — chair of the public safety committee — before Council formally voted for a disapproval resolution, stopping the contract from moving forward.

“There are several concerns with this contract before us today, including the cooperative agreement process, the quality of engines being procured from a first-time vendor, and the quality the apparatus itself,” Pinto said. “While the cooperative-agreement model allows for more efficient ordering timelines, which is important, the District should use caution when making purchases from manufacturers for the first time.”

D.C. Fire and EMS has previously said Tuesday’s action could delay delivery of any new engines until 2029.

The I-Team reached out to the department and the company HME for any response to the Council vote but has not yet heard back.

The D.C. fire union praised the vote, saying, “The citizens and taxpayers of the District are not going to be saddled with poorly executed fire apparatus contracts that in many cases won’t keep the District or its firefighters safe.”