Village Businesses Donate Portion of Profits to Fix City's Fire Truck

By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9

THE VILLAGE, Oklahoma -- Strapped for cash, Village city leaders have turned to local business to come up with enough money to fix one of their fire trucks because as it stands right now, the city has no way of fighting a high rise fire.

For businesses at Casady Square, losing the city's one ladder truck is such a concern for them, they are willing to give up a portion of their own profits to get it fixed.

At the Village Fire Department sits the city's one ladder truck that firefighters said they are afraid to use.

"They are just not comfortable having a fireman go up on the latter while it's extended," said Bruce Stone, Village City Manager.

According to city leaders, the hydraulic system for the trucks latter isn't working like it should.

"It's not a high priority for us. We have very few tall buildings but it is a safety issue," Stone said.

But Valerie Naifeh, who runs Naifeh's Fine Jewelry, said she and other near-by businesses in the Village aren't comfortable with the truck's latter not working.

"We don't have a lot of tall buildings in the Village, but we have enough that if there was a fire that required the use of the latter truck that at the moment we would be dead in the water," Naifeh said.

Partly because, should the fire department need a ladder truck, they would be forced to call on neighboring cities like Nichols Hills for help.

"The loss of time in doing that could mean the whole building burning down," Naifeh said.

It's why business like Naifeh's located in Casady Square have chosen to team up to together to donate 10 percent of their profits in hopes of coming up with the $20,000 required to repair the truck. The idea has city leaders crossing their fingers.

"Hopefully they'll be able to a raise a substantial amount of money," Stone said.

Despite calling the issue with the latter truck a safety concern, Village city leaders said there are other maintenance issues that must get fixed first.

The businesses in Casady Square who are donating a portion of their profits are doing it Friday and Saturday only.