East Cleveland City Council Votes to Allocate Funds for New Fire Truck

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The East Cleveland City Council voted unanimously to allocate money for a new fire truck Tuesday night.

The truck is parked at Atlantic Emergency Solutions in Macedonia until the city pays.

Thomas Buth, president of the East Cleveland Firefighters Union Local 500, said the department's aging equipment can be dangerous to firefighters and the community.

“There have been questions about this unit failing in a fire and I would hate for our members to be on the third or second floor of a house looking for people with a hose and for it to stop,” Buth said.

Where did the money for this device go?

Buth said funds for a new fire truck and ambulance had been set aside in 2022.

The city's law director issued a letter of apology Saturday, saying the city used the money to settle a $1.6 million lawsuit over firefighters' back pay.

The mayor delivered the department's new ambulance on Monday.

“Technically, the mayor had to take that money from another unapproved part of the budget because it wasn’t in that budget,” said Councilwoman Patricia Blochowiak. “It was in the budget two years ago, which should have been earmarked for that expense.”

The department had to rely on mutual aid from surrounding towns.

“The long-term solution is to have vehicles in place and update them,” Buth said.

Buth said the city has until Friday to pay for the new device or it will be sold to another department.

“If these structures start to fail, places are going to burn and people could get hurt,” Buth said.

19 News has reached out to Mayor Brandon King for comment. We will update this story as soon as we hear back.

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