Massachusetts Mayor to Cut Fire Rescue Truck

Jan. 29--HAVERHILL -- Mayor James Fiorentini has told firefighters he intends to shut down the department's rescue truck March 1 -- a cost-cutting measure the firefighters union says will put lives in danger, especially people who live in or drive through the city's Bradford section.

Firefighter and union secretary Todd Guertin said the mayor plans to redeploy vital life-saving equipment from the rescue truck to the department's ladder trucks.

The rescue vehicle, which is assigned to the Water Street fire station, is staffed by three firefighters and contains equipment such as the Jaws of Life used to extract people from mangled car wrecks and a device used to fill air tanks at fire scenes.

Retiring the vehicle would allow the city to reduce the number of firefighters on a given shift by three and, according to the mayor, fill a $200,000 budget hole in the department's overtime account. Fiorentini stressed shutting down the rescue truck or running it with reduced staffing would be a temporary measure and that it would be brought back into full service once the budget shortfall is made up.

Guertin said putting the rescue truck's equipment on ladder trucks, even for a short time, is risky because those large vehicles are prohibited by the state from using the Basiliere Bridge because of the structure's dilapidated condition.

The bridge, which is less than a mile from the Water Street fire station, crosses the Merrimack River and connects the Bradford side of Haverhill to the downtown side.

Ladder firetrucks must use the Comeau Bridge at the other end of downtown to cross the river into Bradford, adding several minutes to the time it takes them to reach that part of the city, Guertin said.

For example, Guertin said it would have taken firefighters much longer to have reached the scene of a horrific accident last month near Bradford Square in which a woman was killed when she was struck from behind by a car.

"The rescue truck got there in 45 seconds, but it would have taken the rescue truck much longer, Guertin said of the deadly accident, adding it can take the ladder truck 10 minutes to reach some parts of Bradford.

Fiorentini said the Fire Department faces a $200,000 budget shortfall due to overtime spending and that retiring the rescue truck is preferable to closing a fire station. The mayor has proposed closing the Bradford fire house in past years to fill budget holes, but the city recently renovated the building and the mayor has said he won't threaten to close it any more.

Fiorentini said he has invited union officials to discuss the cost-cutting plan and that a compromise to keep the rescue truck operating is possible. One alternative, he said, is to reduce staffing of the vehicle to one or two firefighters.

"We have invited the union to meet with us before this is implemented," Fiorentini said. "If they have other ways of saving money, my door is open and we are willing to work with them."

The mayor said Public Safety Commissioner Alan DeNaro and fire Chief Richard Borden developed the cost-cutting plan at his direction.

"Their plan is to either cut the rescue truck and redeploy the equipment to other vehicles or cut the manning," Fiorentini said. "In either case, the equipment from the rescue truck would continue to be deployed as it is today and we would take pains to make certain the public is protected."

DeNaro said firefighters have valid concerns about placing the rescue equipment on ladder trucks.

"No decisions have been made on that," DeNaro said, suggesting the equipment could possibly be stored on other vehicles and driven to emergencies.

Guertin said the mayor knew when his budget was passed last summer that the Fire Department would not have enough overtime money to make it through the year. He called the shortfall "premeditated."

Last year, the Fire Department spent $1.8 million on overtime, but the mayor put only $1.33 million in that account this year. Fiorentini said the department has spent almost $1.2 million on overtime so far in the fiscal year that ends July 1.

Firefighter Greg Roberts, the union president, said the overtime budget is stressed because the mayor has been too slow to fill vacancies in the department. DeNaro said the fire department currently pays for five, 24-hour shifts per day with overtime, which he said is mainly the result of vacancies and a couple of firefighters being on injury leave.

Fiorentini also noted an outside management study of the Fire Department last year by Matrix Consulting Group recommended retiring the rescue truck, as opposed to closing a fire station, if budget cuts were required. At the time, the mayor said that would be his course of action if budget cuts were required in the near future.

Copyright 2012 - The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.