Hillis

“Right now I think we’re down to two or three fully operational ladder trucks in the whole city,” said Dustin Hillis, chair of the council’s Public Safety Committee.

While Hillis described the fire truck fleet as being “in shambles”, Smith told council members the situation while serious, is “not in a dire space right now.”

“I have nightmares about situations where a fire truck or fire engine isn’t coming to save people’s lives,” said Hillis, who said he believes the city needs to spend $12 million a year for each of the next three years on fire trucks.

Hillis was released from the hospital in mid-January and in late February he issued a statement on Twitter, thanking those who helped him.

“I just wanted to come on here and thank everyone for all the prayers and love y’all have given me,” Hillis wrote.