LL’s column this week, which you’ve naturally already read, details how Tower 3—the District fire truck specifically designated to rescue the president and the first family from a White House blaze—is currently in very poor shape.

But Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe said on the The Kojo Nnamdi Show today that he’d reached out to the U.S. Secret Service and assured them that his department is still capable of rescuing the prez in spite of equipment problems. As LL noted in his column, when Tower 3 (the only truck in the fleet that has a bucket at the end of its ladder) is out of service, a regular ladder truck takes it’s place.

“We assured them that if the need arises, we’re going to make sure we take care of our responsibility,” Ellerbe told LL after the show.

Do note that Ellerbe contacted the Secret Service after he’d received emailed questions from LL regarding Tower 3, questions that LL never got a response to.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery