The referendum would have required the first fire vehicle to get to a scene within four minutes and a second within four minutes later. The standard could have also been used to block Pittsburgh's plans to cut 168 of 816 firefighter positions and close seven of its 35 fire stations as part of the city's recovery plan approved in June by the mayor and City Council.
Mayor Tom Murphy and other city officials argued that the referendum was invalid because voters who signed the petitions didn't know the referendum would revise the city's home rule charter. The mayor's law department also said the ordinance illegally limited Murphy's power.
The fire union's attorney, Josh Bloom, said the union plans to reword the petitions for the spring 2005 primary.
