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COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
OFFICE OF COUNCILMEMBER BROOKE PINTO
THE JOHN A. WILSON BUILDING
1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N.W., SUITE 106
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004
March 27, 2026
Nyasha Howard, Secretary
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Secretary Howard,
Today, I, along with Chairman Phil Mendelson, Councilmembers Challes Allen, Janeese Lewis-
George, Matthew Frumin, Brianne Nadeau, and Christina Henderson am introducing the
Proposed Contract with HME, Inc. Disapproval Emergency Resolution of 2026. This legislation
would disapprove of the proposed definitive Contract No. CW128791 with HME, Inc., in the
not-to-exceed amount of $32,502,456.
The District’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (Fire & EMS) responds 24/7 to
an extremely high volume of calls. All vehicles used to respond to emergencies in the District are
used with high frequency, so a strategic system of maintenance and ordering is vital to ensure
that our Fire & EMS members are able to respond in a timely and safe manner. This strategic
system is especially important because, nationwide, fire department vehicles have both increased
in price and wait times from order to receival. The District, therefore, must prioritize maintaining
the fleet that we have and ordering reliable new vehicles at regular intervals.
This proposed contract with HME, Inc., would be the first contract that DC Fire and EMS has
held with this manufacturer. Due to the contracting structure for many fire departments
nationwide, this contract was decided upon via a cooperative agreement, not a traditional bid
system. While the cooperative agreement model is effective for efficient ordering timelines, DC
Fire and EMS should use caution when making purchases from manufacturers for the first time
and avoid bulk orders from vendors that are new to the District.
In the Fire & EMS performance oversight hearing on February 19, 2026, the union, IAFF Local
36, sounded the alarm about this contract and suggested that the District should have contracted
for a smaller order of pumpers to assess the quality before committing to such a large order.
Additionally, it is concerning that the only other major cities that have received HME engines so
far are Cleveland and Detroit. In Detroit, the feedback on HME engines has been mixed, with the
Department communicating satisfaction with the product and the union stating that the engines
were very poor quality. Given such mixed reviews, DC Fire & EMS should be cautious in
making such a large order from a manufacturer with which it has no personal experience.
Additionally, the BDA Global report from 2020, which analyzed the current operations of the
Apparatus Division, made it clear that bulk orders such as this order of 18 engines from HME,
Inc., are not best practice. The report states that “Delays in apparatus procurement can be so
lengthy that they can result in multi-year impacts. That includes years when the Department does
not receive enough new apparatus followed by years when the Department receives too much
new apparatus. The latter situation causes many, if not more, problems than the former. When
too much new apparatus is received, a “bubble” is created which results in too much apparatus
moving into reserve status, and then too much apparatus needing to be replaced at one time when
the newly acquired units reach the end of their service life. This creates strains on the budget.
The far better option is to ensure that apparatus moves steadily through its lifecycle in even and
predictable numbers – this makes budgeting, apparatus preparation, and apparatus maintenance
considerably easier to do.”1
It is vital that the Department spend District dollars in a responsible manner. Given that the
District has never had a contract with HME prior to this proposed contract and given that such a
bulk order from any manufacturer is not best practice, I have introduced this disapproval
resolution to reassess this contract.
Disapproval of this contract will not cause the Department to be in a crisis for engines. While it
is important to continue ordering all vehicles for the Department, it is even more important to
order quality vehicles that will last, given the usage of vehicles in the District. The Department
currently has 16 engines on order from other manufacturers that are not HME––four of which
should be delivered to the Department by the end of the year. The Department should therefore
not rush order 18 engines––over half of the total number of engine companies in the District––
from a company never used before.
The Council should disapprove of this contract that is both too large and too fast to ensure that
the District is getting a good deal. I encourage the Executive to either order a smaller number of
HME engines or instead order from manufacturers that have proven to deliver quality products in
the past.
Should you have any questions about this emergency disapproval resolution, please contact my
Legislative Assistant, Esther Bundens, at ebundens@dccouncil.gov.
Thank you,
1 Fire & EMS Responses to Pre-Hearing Performance Oversight Questions (May 3, 2021) available here.
Brooke Pinto
_____________________________ _____________________________
Chairman Phil Mendelson Councilmember Brooke Pinto
_____________________________ _____________________________
Councilmember Charles Allen Councilmember Matthew Frumin
_____________________________ _____________________________
Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau Councilmember Janeese Lewis George
_____________________________
Councilmember Christina Henderson
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION
_________________________
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
_________________________
To disapprove proposed contract No. CW128791 with HME, Inc. to provide a minimum of one 1
and a maximum of 24 pumpers for the Apparatus division of the Fire and Emergency 2
Medical Services Department. 3
4
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 5
resolution may be cited as the “Proposed Contract No. CW128791 with HME, Inc. Disapproval 6
Resolution of 2026”. 7
Sec. 2. Pursuant to section 451 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved 8
December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 803; D.C. Official Code § 1-204.51), and section 202 of the 9
Procurement Practices Reform Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2010 (D.C. Law 18-371; D.C. 10
Official Code § 2-352.02), the Council disapproves Contract No. CW128791 with HME, Inc. in 11
the amount of $32,502,456. 12
Sec. 3. Transmittal. 13
The Council shall transmit a copy of this resolution, upon its adoption, to the Office of 14
the Mayor. 15
Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement. 16
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Chief Financial Officer as the fiscal 17
impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 18
approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 19
Sec. 5. Effective date. 20
This resolution shall take effect immediately. 21