â€å“fire Department Response Times Evaluatedã¢â‚¬â Spokesman-review the (Spokane Wa) 26 January 2012
Cuts raise alarm at fire department
Lord's day | Local
Spokane firefighters replenish air supplies from Rescue i while battling a fire on the North Side of Spokane. Under the latest budget projections, it appears the department will lose 58 firefighters and one civilian mechanic from its 2004 force. AP photo by Brian Plonka/The Spokesman-Review
SPOKANE — The darkest moment in Fire Chief Bobby Williams' career came when a beau firefighter died in a rescue attempt during a house fire in the early 1970s.
But Williams, 53, has non lost a firefighter in the line of duty every bit burn down chief for his 16 years in Spokane. The last firefighter to be killed in Spokane was in 1982.
Upkeep cuts pending at Spokane Urban center Hall have raised the fearfulness level. Williams and firefighters said proposed staffing reductions side by side year will make it more hard to maintain the fast responses and skillful training that protect firefighters and the public.
Under the latest upkeep projections, Williams said information technology appears the department will lose 58 firefighters and one noncombatant mechanic from its 2004 force of 330 uniformed and non-uniformed employees. The cuts corporeality to a $4.6 one thousand thousand reduction from what would get a $29 million upkeep for fire and emergency medical services.
The cuts come up every bit the city struggles to reduce adjacent yr'due south general-fund upkeep by $12 million, subsequently cutting $half dozen 1000000 last September. College costs for salaries and wellness benefits combined with sluggish growth in tax revenue are among the main causes of City Hall's money woes.
Fire department cuts would reduce the department'southward 24-60 minutes on-duty staffing from 63 to 54 firefighters. That'south 25 fewer firefighters than the city deployed effectually the clock in 1984, when there were half as many burn and emergency calls.
The number of fire rigs would drop from 19 to sixteen. Rigs to exist parked next yr include the engine at Station No. 2 at Hamilton Street and North Foothills Drive, and the Medic 1 and Rescue i rigs at Fire Station No. 1 at Riverside Avenue and Browne Street. No stations will exist closed.
Williams said he will redeploy his force to maintain the fastest possible response times for the outset unit on the scene. But any type of firm burn down will draw rigs from a wider area of the city, leaving residents in those areas vulnerable if another fire or emergency occurs.
Longer response times would also be expected if multiple medical calls are received in the same part of the metropolis at the same time.
"We are not going to be as deep for handling multiple incidents," the master said.
At some fires, assembling the necessary force will occur more slowly equally several engines and crews are always needed for hooking a hose to a hydrant; ventilating a called-for firm to clear the heat and smoke; sending masked firefighters into a burn for search-and-rescue; and monitoring the team to brand sure anybody is safe.
Studies show a fire can become fatal in equally little every bit 3 to seven minutes. The average fourth dimension for the outset vehicle to arrive in Spokane now is just under half-dozen minutes, the amount of time someone can live without animate and not suffer brain impairment if they are resuscitated.
"At that place's no misleading the customs," Williams said. "We tin can in no way provide the same level of service we provide today."
Fire union officials said the reduced staffing could be critical during major fires, such as the one at Castle Stone Industries and forth High Drive in 2003 and at the Mars Hotel in 1999.
This twelvemonth'southward budget cuts and layoffs are dispiriting for a department that has congenital a reputation on fast, constructive responses to emergencies.
The city'southward unionized firefighters have launched a public relations campaign to persuade the Spokane City Quango to restore at least some of the cuts proposed by Mayor Jim West.
"We are at a point where some citizen is going to finance these budget cuts with their house," firefighter D.J. Hill said.
Hill is one of almost three dozen firefighters facing layoffs. Retirements and vacancies are expected to brand up for the rest of the cuts.
The department at present responds to virtually 23,000 calls a twelvemonth, up from 12,400 in 1984 when at that place were 26 fire engines and 77 firefighters available 24 hours a 24-hour interval, non counting battalion chiefs. The bulk of the calls are medical emergencies or accidents.
It takes 16 full-time firefighters to staff a four-person engine or ladder truck. Firefighters are organized into four platoons, and each platoon works one 24-hour shift every four days.
Spokane'south burn force at the start of 2004 was smaller than that in Tacoma, a metropolis of comparable size. Tacoma had staffing of 401 compared with 330 in Spokane. Tacoma had xvi stations and 28 fire rigs, compared with Spokane's fourteen stations and 16 rigs.
Salaries in Tacoma are lower than the proposed contract for Spokane firefighters. Firefighters of the lowest rank earn as much equally $lx,300 a year in Tacoma, said Ron Stephens, that city's assistant burn chief.
Spokane isn't solitary in facing cuts. Many cities have had to reduce staffing. Tacoma'southward burn down section is expected to lose ane fire station and thirteen firefighters next year.
Union leaders are quietly talking about the possibility of a taxation increase, but they oasis't spoken publicly about information technology because they believe metropolis residents are not likely to be receptive, especially if information technology involves an increase in the tax on city utilities, which is already 17 percent. A public safety property revenue enhancement levy could be put to voters for funding in 2006.
Source: https://web.kitsapsun.com/archive/2004/12-05/20936_cuts_raise_alarm_at_fire_departm.html