A Chatham resident and former captain in the Bloomfield Fire Department is urging borough officials to consider funding a new fire engine for the Chatham Fire Department.
Bob Penn spoke in front of the Chatham Borough Council on Monday, Jan. 23, and requested that the funding for the neighborhood fire department be taken into consideration.
According to Penn, the apparatus fleet that the fire department currently utilizes is "badly overaged," which can pose a great threat not only to the firefighters but to members of the community.
"You know there is a problem. Unlike other administrations who denied that there is a problem, who said 'oh the apparatus is fine, it has been maintained.' That's nonsense because an apparatus that old, you can't measure metal fatigue, you can't go inside the engine and the number of safety features," Penn said.