Fire departments say prices for new engines have soared and orders are backlogged for years. Two senators are investigating whether investors who have disrupted the industry are the reason.
As fire departments around the country rep ort soaring prices and waiting times for new fire engines, two United States Senators are investigating the effect on public safety and the role that private equity investment has played in disrupting the firefighting equipment industry.
The senators — Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Jim Banks, Republican of Indiana — reported on Tuesday that they had heard from dozens of fire departments about delayed deliveries, defective parts and escalating prices. In a letter to the International Association of Fire Fighters, they said they were concerned that “private equity is padding shareholders’ wallets at the expense of public safety” and that they were seeking to learn more about the situation.
Over the past two decades, the private equity firm American Industrial Partners has acquired a number of specialty vehicle companies, including fire truck manufacturers, and has combined them into a single company called Rev Group. Company executives told analysts that they would substantially raise profit margins and that other companies were doing the same. Rev Group closed two manufacturing plants to streamline its operations.
The New York Times reported earlier this year that prices for fire trucks have soared in recent years and that manufacturers are taking longer to deliver vehicles. Rev Group has said it has a backlog of $4 billion in orders.
Industry leaders have said that the delays and rising prices stemmed from disruptions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, but some fire officials have blamed the problems at least partly on the industry’s consolidation.
Sue Finkam, the mayor of Carmel, Ind., said she raised the issue with Mr. Banks after she saw how quickly prices for new trucks were rising and how long they would take to be delivered. The estimated price of a new pumper vehicle rose about 10 percent in 2024 from the previous year, she said, while the wait time for a new tiller apparatus is now more than four years.
