BOSTON -- An independent report on the Boston Fire Truck Maintenance Department will be scathing, according to Boston Fire Commissioner Rod Fraser. He told Team 5 Investigates that Mercury Consulting calls maintenance deficient in area after area. The report comes as Team 5 Investigates uncovered just how much the city paid in salaries to a department everyone agreed was not effective.

When Team 5 Investigates asked Fraser about the report's findings, he said, "Maintenance is bad. There's no preventive maintenance program in the Boston Fire Department."

The firefighters union said it asked in 2007 for the department to establish a preventive maintenance program.

"We sent in writing a request to hire experienced fleet maintenance professionals to come in and establish a preventive maintenance program almost two years ago," said Ed Kelley, president of the Boston Firefighters Union. "It was a year and 10 months before Kevin Kelley died. That fell on deaf ears."

But the commissioner produced his own memo from that year directing the union to implement one.

"They certainly had the people. They certainly had the funding to do preventive maintenance," said Fraser. "They don't have the right people. There should not be firefighters in the maintenance division."

Records obtained by Team 5 Investigates show the city spent more than $1 million in salaries last year to the maintenance department. The superintendent of maintenance made $188,000. The motor apparatus engineer made $173,000, including $96,000 in disability payments. The assistant superintendent of maintenance made $194,000, and $114,000 of that was disability pay.

"He allegedly hurt his knee while working over there," said Fraser.

Team 5's Kelley Tuthill asked if it happened in the maintenance shop.

"That's correct," said Fraser.

"It's important to point out that the $194,000 that the assistant superintendent made was because he retired," said Kelly. "In his 38 years of service, he accrued sick time, vacation time and personal time."

Kelly calls the motor squad a Triple A of sorts for the department. They are trained firefighters assigned around the clock to respond to mechanical problems. Records show those firefighters earned six figures each, including $53,000 to $79,000 in overtime.

"This is a management failure, not a union failure," said Kelly.

"If you really want your people to be safe, the people in the city and the people in your department to be safe," said Fraser, "then you want trained, experienced people maintaining that vehicle."