National Safety Ltd., the distributor of fire trucks in the island, has promised that it will be undertaking the modification of unsafe units within the next week.

The assurance was given on behalf of Rosenbauer LLC America, manufacturers of the trucks, following a meeting involving officials of the Local Government and Transport ministries and representatives of National Safety Ltd., on Wednesday.

Last month, several firefighters in St. Elizabeth were injured after a section of the truck in which they were travelling became separated from the chassis.

On Wednesday, Local Government Minister Dean Peart told The Gleaner/Power 106 News that the board of the Fire Brigade would also carry out follow-up checks on the trucks.

Reviewing new order

"The firemen will check on these trucks daily and if they see any problem on the trucks, they must park the truck and a fleet will come immediately and repair it," he said. "They have fixed three of the trucks on the weekend and we have asked the Island Traffic Authority (ITA) to go and inspect (them), and we also got an independent person to check these trucks," he added.

In the meantime, Mr. Peart said the Government's attorneys are reviewing the current order for 13 more fire trucks from Rosenbauer America.

A team from the Transport Ministry had recommended that all 25 trucks imported from the company in August last year be withdrawn from service until they were recertified by the ITA.

In its March 26 report, the team raised concerns about the safety of the fire trucks, particularly how they were assembled.