Sara Reese and Rob Earnshaw, Times of Northwest Indiana
GARY | After arriving at an inferno at an abandoned house on Delaware Street earlier this month, a Gary fire official immediately called for additional resources, he said.
Flames were licking at an apartment building to the south, which bystanders said was occupied, and two more buildings to the southeast were threatened, Battalion Chief Donnie Williamson said at the scene.
But the Fire Department didn't have enough trucks in service to man the June 16 fire alone, a policy outlined on the department's website shows.
It's just one example, the city's mayor and chief of the resource-strapped fire-fighting force said, of the challenges and public safety concerns faced by the city when emergencies strike.
Gary sent two engines and a ladder truck to the June 16 fire in the 1900 block of Delaware Street, Williamson said.
"Every truck in the city was here," he said.
Two engines, a ladder truck, a rescue squad and a battalion chief should respond to an initial alarm, according to the department's website. When a fire is upgraded to a box alarm, procedure calls for another engine, truck company and chief.
Gary was forced to call for other region departments to help. The Lake Ridge Fire Department sent one engine. The Merrillville Fire Department sent a ladder truck, but it didn't arrive until the fire had been knocked down, Williamson said.
The fire displaced a mother and her two young children, but no injuries were reported.
Williamson said he could not comment on anything but the June 16 fire.
Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and Fire Chief Teresa Everett said they're aware of the department's shortages.
"That was one of the priorities of our administration coming into office, because we understood how outdated and inadequate the equipment was," Freeman-Wilson said.
The mayor said after she took office, the department accepted an engine from the village of Glenwood. The engine, which Gary received in 2012, was the oldest one the village had in surplus, Glenwood Mayor Kerry Durkin said.
That engine is currently down for repairs, Everett said.
According to the Gary fire chief, five of the city's 11 engines were in service and six were off line for repairs as of Thursday. Gary also has one engine it's renting from a private company, bringing the total to six. The Insurance Services Office recommends Gary have seven engines in service, Everett said.
The recommended standard of the National Fire Protection Association for a city with a population of Gary — about 79,000 residents — is six engines. Hammond, with about 80,000 residents, is running six engines and has three spares, Hammond Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Margraf said.
Hammond also covers half the square mileage of Gary.
"Once we have everything repaired, we will be on target," Gary's Everett said. "The ultimate goal is to get all of our apparatus repaired and not have to use a rental."
Everett said the department hopes to reach that goal in 30 to 60 days.
He said any department on any given day could have an apparatus go down for repair or be involved in an accident.
"Would I like a brand new fleet? I can't imagine any fire chief who would not," she said.
Freeman-Wilson said she sometimes hears critics question why when the city receives money for specific purposes, such as a $6.5 million grant, that money isn't used for fire equipment instead.
"That's demolition money," she said. "You use it because it's the only thing you can use it for. If people would ask me, I would tell them...All they think is we don't have our priorities in order or that equipment is not a priority."
Despite a lack of equipment, the department has actually been providing more mutual aid to neighboring communities than it has received, Everett said.
Since Jan. 1, Gary has requested mutual aid 26 times and provided it 34 times, she said.
East Chicago Fire Department has provided mutual aid to Gary twice so far this year, said David Diehl, director of the city's Emergency Management Agency. Gary has sent help to East Chicago at least two times this year, he said.
Hobart has provided mutual aid to Gary twice this year, said Robert Scott, the city's EMS director and lead fire investigator. Hobart has not requested Gary's assistance so far this year.
Griffith Fire Chief Roy Schoon said his department provided mutual aid to Gary twice since April 2013 and each time was for a brush fire.