On the defensive, Newton fire chief fires back

NEWTON

Under pressure critics, Fire Chief Joseph LaCroix has fired back at what he calls “misleading claims” about the working order of vehicles and equipment used by firefighters.

In a memo to aldermen this week following an accident with a pumper truck that sent Lt. Richard Geary to the hospital with serious injuries earlier this month, LaCroix lashed out at the firefighters union for asserting that refurbishing a fire truck consists of putting in new brakes, painting, a little bit of polish, and not much else.

LaCroix said that the department’s equipment – from the fleet of trucks to oxygen tanks and masks to flashlights to chainsaws – is all up to code.

“Under no circumstances would I send our firefighters out to do their jobs with equipment that was not code compliant or otherwise unsafe,” LaCroix wrote in the memo.

-- Connie Paige