Philadelphia Fire Fighters Speak Out Against ‘Doomsday’ Cuts

August 14, 2009 – If state lawmakers do not approve legislation creating more revenue for the City of Philadelphia by August 15, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter plans to implement a so-called “doomsday budget.” This includes as many as 200 fire fighter layoffs. That’s in addition to the 148 fire fighter positions cut in January 2009.

State lawmakers have said that while legislation creating the necessary revenue has been proposed, the measures are not expected to be approved until after Mayor Nutter’s deadline.

Protesting what would be a dangerous scenario for public and fire fighter safety, Philadelphia, PA Local 22 President Bill Gault and the members of Local 22 held a news conference and rally August 11.

“The mayor made a dangerous gamble when he created a budget based on money that the City could potentially get from the state,” says Gault. “If these newly proposed cuts are made, six engine companies, three ladder companies and five ALS medic units will most likely be on the chopping block.

Gault adds, “While our fire fighters will continue to respond to calls, with these cuts, it will be impossible for fire fighters to deliver the same level of service. More lives and property will be put at risk.”

In addition to the fire fighter layoffs, the City is proposing to eliminate chief’s aides at night. The aides are not only responsible for driving the chief to the fire ground, but they allow the chief, as incident commander, to focus on the fire.

"If a fire fighter's mayday button goes off, the aide is the first to see it. He's the eyes and ears of a chief during a fire," says Gault. "Without the aide, the chief will have to drive to the scene, answer calls from three radios and a cell phone and focus on fire ground operations alone. It would be overwhelming."

At the press conference and rally, Gault delivered letters from Local 22 and the chiefs addressed to the mayor, city council and the fire commissioner, explaining their opposition to eliminating the nighttime aides.

In January 2009, 148 positions were cut, eliminating five engines and two ladder companies. The City had not hired fire fighters for the previous two years, so those companies had been covered using overtime.

The City made the cuts to eliminate some overtime costs, but the shutdown of those companies have necessitated longer response times to the areas formally covered by those companies.

“Since those closures, we have had citizen deaths in those areas,” says Gault. “While there is no way to know for sure that we could have saved those lives, we would have been able to arrive on the scene faster and the chances of preserving life would have been greater if those companies had still been open.”