Firefighters Saved as Council Tables Budget

News-Journal OP-ED

Last Thursday evening, Mayor Baker’s controversial FY 2010 budget was sent to City Council for its approval. Prior to the meeting, many believed that passage would be a shoe-in. However, the prospect of losing 8 city firefighters was a major concern for many city council members, and during voting it became clear that the budget would not pass. The vote was tabled for one week, allowing the city and firefighters’ union more time to remedy the problem.

The city wants firefighters to accept a compromise “no salary increase/no layoff” plan, which administration says would avoid the need to layoff firefighters during FY 2010.

Kevin Turner, President of Wilmington Firefighters Local 1590, has indicated that the major stumbling block deals with the “no layoff” language in the proposed agreement. Although probationary firefighters are not yet represented by the union, Turner, an Engine Lieutenant, wants the city to guarantee that the newbies won’t be bumped.

I call upon the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, Bill Montgomery and Local 1590 President Kevin Turner to move quickly in reaching a tentative agreement, much like the one announced by FOP Lodge #1 last week. There is a very short window of opportunity, and tabling the budget again is not an option.

City Council came to the rescue -- please show them that it was a meaningful save.

Lou Angeli
Public Safety Advocate
Wilmington

An Open Letter To Vice President Joe Biden

Vice President Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Mr. Vice President,

Here in your hometown of Wilmington, firefighters and citizens are marking the closing of RESCUE-ONE, quite possibly the most important fire-rescue unit in the state. The reason? Mayor James Baker's decision to layoff highly trained public servants for not agreeing to his unusual demand to ignore the articles of their contract, which were negotiated and signed just weeks ago.

The citizens of Wilmington and the State are losing the ONLY full-time technical rescue team in the First State. With Rescue-One's closure the city of Wilmington returns to tactics that were used in the 1960's. The family trapped in a wrecked auto along I-95 will be required to wait for a volunteer squad to come to their rescue. Such delayed rescues will deprive them from gaining quick access to definitive health care at nearby Trauma centers.

Workers trapped on a scaffold on the upper floors of a Wilmington High-Rise will be required to wait it out hundreds of feet above the street, as dispatchers check with surrounding cities to determine if fire-rescue administrators are willing to lend assistance. Children caught in a swiftwater Brandywine River will perish as their would be rescuers stand not grabbing hold of a rescue line, but rather holding paperwork in the unemployment line.

Many see Rescue-One's closing as being punitive in nature, as the city administration has turned a deaf ear to dozens of options offered by citizens and firefighters alike.

Mr. Baker’s layoffs make a bad problem worse. The firings will do absolutely nothing to help fix the overriding problem -- overtime. So Chief Willie Patrick will still need to initiate his proposed rolling bypass concept, which closes inadequately staffed stations for the day. There will be days when this city of 75,000 plus will be protected by as few as 24 firefighters -- down from 38.

Mr. Vice President, you have said on several occasions that the burden of current state, county and city financial woes should not be borne on the backs of its public servants. President Obama announced last week substantial increases in the SAFER program, which you helped develop as co-chair of the Congressional Fire Services Institute. Surely, Wilmington's finance officer could develop a proposal requesting assistance from the SAFER fund.

I know that your schedule is extremely tight, but many of us in Wilmington are hoping that a phone call to the Mayor may help him re-think this decision.

I respectfully submit this letter as a firefighter advocate, and as the rookie firefighter who responded, along with Larry Mertgenthaler and Don Lentes, to the horrible accident that affected you and your family in December of 1972.

Regards,

Lou Angeli
2203 N. Harrison Street
Wilmington, DE 19802
302-275-4535

Wilmington Layoffs Will Endanger Citizens

Layoff Trend Hits Home!

WILMINGTON, DE (May 6, 2009) -- The national public safety hit list hit home this past week, when Wilmington, DE Mayor James Baker announced layoffs of firefighting and police personnel. How Baker tagged the fire department is somewhat fishy but a story worth sharing.

Just a few weeks ago, Local 1590, the Wilmington Fire Fighters Association and the city agreed on a new contract, after the fire department had been working without one for over 2 years. The members received slim raises, but there was comfort knowing that the city fire department would finally be working at authorized staffing for the first time in nearly 20 years.

In the meantime, Chief Willie Patrick, CFO and his administrative staff had labored diligently to cut nearly $800,000 from the department's 2010 budget at the Mayor’s request. They presented the plan to Wilmington City Council last week, who had questions and asked for clarifications, but suggested no changes.

Rolling Bypasses

The biggest money saver for the city would have been Patrick’s concept of “rolling bypasses”, which would close a single company for the day, if it were understaffed due to vacation or illness. Overtime personnel normally fill those positions, but since the mission was to drastically reduce overtime pay, bypass was fair resolution. It was a win-win-win situation for everyone – the citizens, city government and the firefighters, since staffing would remain the same and there would be no company closings.

Then, last week, Mayor Baker announced the layoffs, claiming that Local 1590 would not agree to freeze their newly authorized wage increase. His announcement came as a shock to the firefighting community, since he made no reference whatsoever to raise freezes just days before while the city and union were hammering out a settlement.

Incredibly, no one came to the firefighters’ defense, and the local newspaper, the News-Journal, did nothing to report on the impact of such layoffs to city residents. Well, since the News Journal didn’t feel the need to report the bad news, here it is.

Probable Scenario

I’m told that at least, 20 Wilmington firefighters will be fired– and the city's job hackers will be going back through the past three recruit classes to find enough firefighters to axe. Some of these brave men and women have invested 10 years on-the-job, and will soon lose their health benefits and payments into the pension system.

With 20 members gone, somewhere in Wilmington, a company will certainly be closed down. In the most logical scenario, the closure will likely be Rescue-1, which responds to every alarm in the city providing fire scene rescue, auto extrication, water rescue, high-angle rescue, technical rescue and hazmat mitigation. Rescue-1's closure will have immediate ramifications on emergency response and deny city residents the same level of protection that the smallest neighboring volunteer companies provide on a daily basis.

Historically speaking, when Wilmington shuts down a firehouse or closes a company, it never re-opens again. In the last generation alone, the city has lost four companies and two stations to cutbacks, none of which have ever come back online.

Expect 30 firefighters per shift

Unfortunately, Mr. Baker’s layoffs will do absolutely nothing to help fix the overtime problem, so Chief Patrick will still need to initiate the rolling bypass concept. There will be days when this city of 75,000 plus will be protected by as few as 3 engines and 2 ladders, or some combination thereof.

In order to fight a working fire, the WFD will be calling on neighboring volunteer companies more and more often to provide Rapid Intervention Teams, cover-up companies, even suppression units during large scale blazes. The volunteers are barely handling their own load, especially during the daytime hours, and are now be told to back-up their career colleagues with NO compensation whatsoever. The city receives pro-bono firefighting services by relying on an age old mutual aid agreement.

However, for those of you who recall layoffs and closings in Camden, NJ about 10 years ago, South Jersey volunteers and the City of Philadelphia FD were being called into Camden several times each week to handle an endless wave of arsons. But after a year, the volunteers got wise to Camden's ways and stopped responding, as did the City of Philadelphia -- and one could only watch as Camden burned, burned and burned some more.

Just a few weeks ago, Vice President Joe Biden emphasized that city, county and state fiscal woes “would not be borne on the backs of public safety personnel.” Evidently Joe’s friend, Mayor James Baker, and so many other public officials, didn’t tune into CNN for that speech.

"I find it difficult to comprehend that an elected official would endanger his constituents and end the careers of so many dedicated firefighter/EMT's based on retaliation." said Michelle Jones, a resident of the 40 Acres section of the city.

"The mayor is pointing the finger of blame at the firefighter's union,' she added, 'when in reality, it is his (Baker's) decision alone that will soon place the citizens of Wilmington at risk."

Update: On May 7, 2009, President Barack Obama fulfilled a campaign commitment by proposing a huge funding increase for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants, which has been the IAFF's signature program. The extra funding is being made available to career departments in order to keep firefighters in firehouse, not the unemployment line. A portion of these funds could be directed to the Wilmington Fire Department, if someone would simply apply for the assistance.

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Fiscal Responsibility or Irresponsible Behavior?

Finding work as a firefighter -- a tough task for the next 10 years!

Dateline USA (April 28, 2009) -- Firefighting by definition is a dangerous job. As a fire officer, you carefully consider the situation before allowing those under your command to run into a burning building. You must be certain that they can make a real difference in someone’s life. But “running in” takes on new meaning especially when you’re one of only a few firefighters on the scene.

The concept of operating at a blaze with a handful of personnel is foreign to many firefighters, both career and volunteer. But during these hard times, more and more city administrators are looking toward the public safety sector to make cuts in order to make ends meet. To them, getting several apparatus to the fire is what the public expects, despite the fact that many of the rigs are staffed with 2 and 1 man companies.

See Keokuk, IA Fire Department, December, 1999.

You heard it right, a driver and partner to make up the supply line, advance the attack line, make forcible entry, and attempt rescues until the 2nd due company rolls in with additional help. Hopefully, the “2nd due” company, staffed by yet another 2 man crew, will arrive quickly. It’s a procedure that troubles firefighters and union officials, and when it tragically hits home, the citizen public will be in an uproar.

Authorized Staffing vs. Overtime

Google the term “fire department layoffs,” and you’ll instantly find dozens of current references to staffing reductions in career departments, large and small, nationwide. Why layoff firefighters or any members of Public Safety? Well, according to many city administrators, the layoffs are necessary to offset the extraordinary amount of money spent to cover firefighter overtime.

Voices from the fire-side say government officials are using the economic downturn as an excuse to close companies and layoff firefighters, with no intention of returning the lost companies to service once the economy is back on track.

The overtime issue has become so controversial, that in some cities like Buffalo, NY, citizens rebuke firefighters, suggesting that excessive overtime payouts are an abuse of taxpayer dollars. But if you dig a tiny bit deeper into the story, you’ll learn the real reason why overtime is needed and justified.

With an authorized staffing level of 766, BFD currently employs only 631 uniformed personnel. So at the beginning of each shift, dozens of positions remain vacant and must be filled with off duty firefighters, in order to properly staff the city’s 19 Engines, 9 Ladder Trucks and Heavy Rescue Squad. Thankfully, some taxpayers now get it, and have figured out the solution on their own.

“If the city hired the additional firefighters,’ one Buffalo resident notes, ‘their combined salaries and benefits would total less than the money spent on overtime.”

Hardest hit during the current recession are small, career and combination departments, where proper staffing is always an issue. Take a city like Mansfield, Ohio, where the fire department operates 6 Engines, 2 Ladders and 3 EMS Units. Under the NFPA’s minimum staffing guidelines, the city should employ 3 shifts of at least 40 firefighters to cover the current positions.

However, the actual number of firefighters on Mansfield’s roster is just 103, and the Mayor has promised to lay off an additional 25 firefighters. With those members gone, companies would be staffed with just 1 or 2 firefighters, which some assert is a disaster waiting to happen.

Be prepared – Because we’re not coming in!

To his credit, Mansfied Chief John Harsch has notified city officials, the press, and the general public to expect a lower level of service from his fire department, if the layoffs take place.

"We'll cease being...an interior attack fire department and go to an exterior fire department to protect exposures.” Harsch told reporters. “It won't be safe for the firefighters to go in the house and we will not risk personnel for property.”

Harsch, who was never notified of the potential layoffs added, “I would recommend (that) citizens have a few working smoke detectors if they don't already."

With so few firefighters, Mansfield would be forced to renege on long standing mutual aid pacts with departments surrounding the city.

“I have a responsibility to help (the citizens) here,” Harsch said. “It’s gonna be different. Our goal in this is to figure out how to work everyday with less.”

Not far away, in another central Ohio city, IAFF Local 474 representing the City of Elyria’s firefighters, have launched a public service website entitled “Elyria At Risk.” It’s a great template for other IAFF locals to emulate, in order to explain to citizens how cuts in companies and staffing affect their safety.

Elyria Fire Department’s authorized staffing was 88 firefighters, and until recently operated from four fire stations with 3 shifts of 24, plus additional daytime administrative personnel. In recent weeks, 25 firefighters were laid off, leaving just 14 firefighters per shift to protect the community. A tough task, since most fire experts agree that to fight a working, one-alarm house fire,17 personnel are required. Once on the scene, Elyria’s firefighters can expect no back-ups, no fresh troops not even a RIT TEAM.

View graph depicting effectiveness of one-man vs. 4-person staffing.

Some other cities, which have been targeted by the fiscal axe include; Spokane Fire Department (24+ layoffs), Woonsocket, RI (22 layoffs), Monroe, MI (1/2 of the department to be laid off), Clifton, NJ (17 layoffs, 1 station closing), and the FDNY, which is facing layoffs totaling over 5% of its 12,000 member force.

What we're seeing is a risky trend, because city administrators are placing the public and firefighters at risk. The mere suggestion that 5 or 6 firemen can mitigate a working house fire shows a total ignorance of firefighting tactics and a blatant disregard for personal safety.

"We need to reduce staffing and be fiscally responsible." one mayor said. If there is a significant fire he added, "...we'll use neighboring volunteer departments for mutual aid." However, most volunteer chiefs acknowledge that their own staffing is way down, and what resources they do have are dedicated to protecting their local alarm district.

Like the Ohio fire chief says, check the batteries in your smoke detector, because we won't be able to come in and get you.

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