Speed ​​bumps slow Buffalo firefighters, damage equipment

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — For first responders, every second counts, but about 1,800 speed bumps scattered across the city are slowing down Buffalo firefighters, according to Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo.

He was asked about this issue at a Buffalo Common Council budget hearing the other week.

“I just have a few quick questions about the speed bumps that are in the city of Buffalo and if that impacts firefighter response time?” asked Delaware District Council member Joel Feroleto.

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“It’s actually a two-way sword because on the one hand it slows down our firefighters and one of the things we’ve been emphasizing is accident prevention, so in that regard, you know, I like Speed ​​bumps. Not the number of Personally, I think there are too many, especially on some of our side streets. They have a significant impact on our vehicle repairs. Our front line devices are experiencing a volume of incidents. higher regarding our suspensions, they have a negative effect in this area,” replied Renaldo. “We have talked with DPW and other entities about what can be done, but we are not yet close to where we need to go and we are still in the process of collecting data as well as repairs on our devices .”

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Yet this is what the commissioner declared a few days after this hearing.

“Are you having any discussions with the DPW commissioner about how we can move forward to resolve this issue?” asked 7 News’ Kristen Mirand.

“The speed bumps are there. They’re there for a reason. It’s a quality of life issue. We fully support it. It’s a problem. It’s more about adapting to the presence of the speed bumps,” he said. Renaldo replied. .

Although Renaldo said speed bumps are a concern and said he anticipates that problem will “stabilize” as firefighters “adapt” to speed bumps.

“We’re slowing down. We’re getting used to the locations of the speed bumps and we’re sticking to the main roads as much as possible,” Renaldo said.

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But a platoon officer told 7 News firefighters talk about it every day and say it slows them down.

“The platforms are breaking more than before… our platforms are already old to begin with,” the officer said.

A Federal Highway Administration study found that speed bumps can add about 10 seconds to emergency vehicle response times.

Take for example Engine 34 which is located on Mercer Avenue, where there are two speed bumps between Main and Hill Streets. Each speed bump would then add 20 seconds to the response time.

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Buffalo Common Council President Chris Scanlon said he has heard from members of the police, fire and public works departments about the damage dents can cause to equipment.

“If it adds to that time, that’s a problem. When you start talking about heart attacks, strokes, things of that nature, seconds count. If it adds to that time, that’s a problem. One minute is a big deal, so it’s something we’ll have to think about moving forward,” Scanlon said.

He said he wanted to get to the bottom of things with Commissioner Renaldo.

“I would like to have another conversation with him, frankly, to make sure that what he said here in the chamber is what he feels,” Scanlon said.