Speaking
at the Jan. 29 Board of Aldermen Committee on Health and Public Safety,
Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher said none of the equipment has suffered
malfunctions like the brake failure that killed Boston firefighter Lt.
Kevin Kelley Jan. 10.

"Any complaint of a brake issue, the mechanic is sent to the station – they never move the apparatus," Kelleher said.

Kelleher
said the department relies on one mechanic with emergency vehicle
certification to service all of its 14 firefighting apparatus and 15
vehicles, a situation he said was not ideal.

"Our maintenance
program, to be perfectly honest with you, is not where I'd like to see
it," he said. "Our mechanic is straight-out all the time, doing
everything."

A partnership with the Cambridge Fire Department
enables their maintenance shop to service Somerville equipment when the
mechanic is off duty.

While the department added four hybrid
Toyota Priuses to its lineup in 2007 to replace the fleet of aging
Crown Victoria sedans, Kelleher said those still in use pose the most
serious safety problems.

"Some of those vehicles are over ten years old," he said. "(The mechanic) tries to keep them together as best he can."

Asked
if the brakes have failed on a call, Kelleher said it has never
occurred, adding the most recent incident in Boston points to problems
unique to that department. "Some of (those incidents) lead you to

believe
that stuff doesn't get reported to the maintenance shop in a timely
manner," he said. "We don't leave anything to chance."