Washington, D.C., ambulance fleet under intense scrutiny after embarrassing breakdowns.
Posted Aug 17th 2013 5:01PM
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The International Association of Firefighters, Local No. 36, Washington, D.C.'s firefighter union chapter, is concerned about the alarming number of breakdowns in the District's ambulance fleet and recommends investigations into its state of disrepair, implying that D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe should be held responsible.

An alarming number of embarrassing mishaps involving the fleet has brought scrutiny to fire department management and to the upkeep of its vehicles, which recently have caught on fire, shut down due to malfunctions mid-response, had road signs installed as heat shields – yes, you read that right... see the image above – and ran out of gas while detailing President Obama's motorcade. From July 19-26, during a heat wave, 67 ambulances in the 94-strong fleet were brought in for repairs at least once, and 22 required repairs more than two times. Many of the breakdowns were related to air-conditioning systems, which were under more stress during the heatwave, The Washington Times reports.

And how did the vehicle maintenance crew handle the A/C repairs? That's where the heat-shields road signs come in. Deputy Mayor Paul Quander confirmed in a statement that, to protect A/C systems, temporary heat shields made of road signs were installed, which have since been removed from the vehicles, theWashington City Paper reports. Check out a news video and the Local 36 press release that we includedbelow.

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