On Wednesday, D.C.’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department admitted that four of its ambulances had been repaired in July with “no parking” signs instead of heat shields. In a press release, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Paul Quander described the technique, charitably, as “unorthodox.” But traffic signs might not be the only makeshift heat shields in the department’s fleet.

Fire union boss Ed Smith tells LL that his members have found more evidence of unusual repair work. In the picture above, a trucker’s mud flap is used where a heat shield should go.

A spokesman for Quander tells LL that he doesn’t know about mud flaps being used in repairs. The Department of Public Works, which repaired some of the fire department’s ambulances in July, didn’t respond to immediate requests for comment. The Department of Public Works referred an earlier request for comment to D.C. Fire and EMS.

Update, 3:15 p.m: DC Water spokesman John Lisle tells LL that the authority, which like DPW received some fire department ambulances for repairs in July,  doesn’t use non-standard parts. Of the 12 ambulances DC Water has finished repairing so far since receiving them in July, none have been returned for more repairs, according to Lisle.

Photo courtesy IAFF 36