The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang WON'T GO SHORT-HANDED: Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy refused the Fire Department's request to reduce all engine companies to four Firefighters rather than five to provide savings that could avert fire company closings. He said such a reduction would pose threats to his members and the public.

The Fire Department's proposal to close 16 fire companies to fit the confines of the Mayor's austere budget plan has outraged fire unions, community groups and City Council Members, uniting them behind the message that such cuts will slow response times and endanger the public.

 

Mayor Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta have offered a compromise: If the Uniformed Firefighters Association agrees to the use of four Firefighters on the 60 engine companies that currently operate with five, the proposed cuts could be averted. The Independent Budget Office estimated that having four-Firefighter operation at all companies would save $35.8 million annually, saying that in addition to saving money the change would discourage firefighters from taking excessive sick leave.

 

UFA: 'No' on Safety Grounds

UFA President Steve Cassidy has refused the offer, saying that such a change would dramatically increase the amount of time it would take an engine company to put water on a fire after it arrives at a fire building.

"We're not doing it, because we believe that staffing is critically important to the safety of my members and also to the public," he said in an interview at his union's Manhattan office. "We've told the department 'no.' "

Mr. Cassidy's resistance stems from a long-standing conflict he has had with the department on how it measures response times. The FDNY has boasted faster response times in the past few years, but Mr. Cassidy maintained that this figure only represented how long it took for FDNY members to arrive on the scene. The difficulty in measuring response, firefighting experts have asserted, is that times for establishing water lines vary greatly depending on the size and shapes of buildings around the city, making a meaningful average figure hard to calculate.

The UFA leader pointed to an FDNY study in 1987 by Deputy Chief Vincent Dunn, examining the difference between five- and four-Firefighter engine companies.

'Crew of Four Ineffective'

"An engine company with a crew of four is an ineffective basic unit of service delivery," Deputy Chief Dunn concluded, noting that hose-stretch time was increased by 75 percent on four-Firefighter crews.

A lot has changed since then; there are fewer structural fires and the FDNY is responding faster. But Mr. Cassidy argued that since 1995 Firefighters have had to carry heavy bunker gear that can slow their operation.

"We'd welcome a new study immediately," he said, vowing to fund such an effort. "There was no bunker gear, and the amount of weight that Firefighters are now carrying is dramatically increased from what it was in 1987. So that extra man, I believe, and common sense dictates, will have an even bigger effect—a positive effect— in getting water on the fire."

Mr. Cassidy faulted the department for not accepting a UFA proposal last year to have a dispatcher broadcast on the radios how long firefighters have been operating inside a fire building before a water line was established. This, he said, would give his members a better idea of the conditions they were working in, adding that the FDNY's reluctance to accept the plan was related to the staffing issue.

"The reason, I believe, that they said no was two things: number one, it's coming from the UFA and they couldn't possibly accept an idea from the UFA," Mr. Cassidy said. "And secondly, more importantly, it would have forced them to measure how long it takes to get water on the fire. And then we would have been able to compare fire-to-fire, incident-to-incident, in reductions in staffing, manning, closed companies, and how they really impact the bottom line, which is how long it takes to get water on the fire."

FDNY: A Matter of Choices

FDNY spokesman Steve Ritea said that Mr. Cassidy had changed his prior position on five-person staffing.

"He said it was excessive staffing and eating up too much overtime," Mr. Ritea said. "It's obvious that five men on an engine is better than four. The important question is whether it's better to keep the extra member in place at 60 engines at the expense of completely shutting down 16 companies."

The UFA has said that the FDNY can make budget cuts without affecting fire suppression operations. Among some of the alternative cuts Mr. Cassidy proposed was dissolving the recruiting unit, noting that since the department was reducing its headcount, such an expense was not necessary.

"They need a recruiting unit like they need a hole in the head," Mr. Cassidy said. "Now they're looking at the possibility of layoffs, so they're probably not going to hire anybody off this [eligibles] list for at least a year and a half."

The FDNY has stated that it has made substantial civilian cuts, but that the bulk of budget reductions would have to be made in operations.

Cut Security Costs

In March, Commissioner Scoppetta told the City Council: "For our Randall's Island, Fort Totten and Maspeth fleet facilities, we discontinued contracts for security services by March 1, 2009 for a savings of $1.1 million. We are redeploying 39 training personnel to the field to reduce overtime. This will save approximately $1.5 million in Fiscal Year 2010."

Mr. Cassidy said that the FDNY tacitly admits that engine companies operate better with five Firefighters, because when Ladder 53 on City Island in The Bronx is closed at night, the department staffs Engine 70—in the same firehouse—with a fifth Firefighter.

"That extra Firefighter has the ability to grab tools, pop the door while they're stretching lines and then go back to other responsibilities; there are a myriad of things the fifth Firefighter on a five-man engine company can and does do," he said. "I think they're really admitting it themselves how important five-man engine companies are, because if it doesn't mean anything, why did you put a fifth man at 70 Engine?"

The union has put its support behind City Council Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee Chair James Vacca's bid to fight operational cuts. In a phone interview, Mr. Vacca opposed any firehouse closings, regardless of the UFA's refusal to accept four-Firefighter engine companies citywide.

"I don't see any reason to close any firehouses to begin with," he said. "I think it should be taken off the table."