Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 4, 1993 TAG: 9311040589
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY BELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Town Council approved the purchase of a new ladder truck, to be delivered in late December.
The town has been without a ladder truck since December 1990 when the manufacturer issued a warning that the ladder might fail. Since then, Fire Department personnel have exhausted efforts to get the truck back in service, including a lawsuit against the manufacturers.
Roanoke County Circuit Court Judge G.O. Clemens dismissed the case last week, leaving firefighters wondering if a replacement truck would ever materialize.
"I was disappointed at the outcome of the trial because we felt like we had purchased a product that would perform and do what it was designed to do," Fire Chief Barry Fuqua said.
Replacement of the defective ladder truck centered around the court case, delaying the process for several years.
"We're just glad this has been resolved, finally."
The two-year legal battle has been complicated by the fact that the companies manufacturing the truck and its components no longer are in business, Town Attorney Buck Heartwell said.
"Perhaps the most critical ruling was that since the ladder had never actually failed, damages were speculative," he said.
"Our position was that an accident shouldn't be required in order to prove that a piece of equipment is faulty."
After clearing a number of legal hurdles, Heartwell said he felt the town had a good case against Grumman and the manufacturers associated with production of the faulty ladder. He said he was surprised when Judge Clemens reversed an earlier decision that the statute of limitations did not apply to this case.
In the end, the case did not get to the jury because of a statute of limitations ruling, Heartwell said.
Heartwell would not disclose the cost of the lawsuit, saying instead it was "expensive and complicated."
Briefed in executive session, town council made no decision on whether to appeal the case pending a similar briefing of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors. The county owns half of the defective truck.
Fuqua said other delays replacing the truck centered around alternatives, including the purchase of a retrofit kit, which may have corrected the defect. But conflicting technical data and a $25,000 price tag discouraged it.
Vinton and Roanoke County will share equally in the cost of the new ladder truck, which costs $407,466.
by CNB