Massachusetts Mayor Trims Fire Department Staffing

HAVERHILL, Mass. -- Mayor James Fiorentini has trimmed fire department staffing by two firefighters per shift by cutting two positions from the rescue truck.

Fiorentini said the move has not jeopardized the safety of firefighters or the public and is designed to save enough money to bridge a projected $200,000 shortfall in the department's overtime account. The measure reduces the number of firefighters working any given shift from 19 to 17.

The fire union said the staffing reductions have put firefighters and the public in danger and are part of a long-standing and vindictive effort by the mayor to maintain political advantage over the fire department and its members. Union officials have said Fiorentini purposefully set the overtime account up for a shortfall by cutting it by $500,000 for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

The rescue vehicle, which is assigned to the Water Street Fire Station, 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. Its personnel are assigned specific duties such as searching for and rescuing firefighters at structural fires.

The vehicle also carries tools for rescuing people from ice and water, trenches and other confined spaces and elevators, as well as equipment for dealing with large hazardous waste spills.

Fiorentini announced last month that he was considering shutting down the vehicle or running it with reduced staffing by March 1.

The mayor said Public Safety Commissioner Alan DeNaro recommended cutting staffing on the vehicle as "the best and safest way to meet the budget challenge and still keep our residents safe."

DeNaro did not respond to calls and emails seeking his comment on whether the staffing reduction has compromised public safety in Haverhill.

"This is only a temporary solution and I anticipate bringing the manning back to full strength on the rescue truck as soon as is possible," Fiorentini said. "The long-term solution is for the parties to work together to find ways to reduce overtime and manning costs."

The plan, in place since Sunday, is to send another fire truck to meet the rescue truck at emergencies.

"This has, in effect, four people doing the job formally done by three on the rescue truck," Fiorentini said of the change. "This solution will not affect the response of the fire department and ensures the continued safety of the public. It is what the Matrix report recommended for a solution if we had to make cuts due to a budget problem."

Under the new protocol, the rescue truck will be used to transport the rescue equipment. Its functions will be carried out by the driver and three firefighters from the fire truck that will meet the rescue truck at the scenes of accidents, fires and other emergencies.

A representative of the firefighters union declined comment, but instead provided a reporter with a copy of an "urgent" union newsletter that is highly critical of the mayor and the rescue truck staffing reductions.

"Dropping Rescue 1 manning from 3 to 1 is dangerous and renders our most versatile apparatus useless," the newsletter reads. "One person cannot properly operate the specialized equipment that Rescue 1 currently holds ... Running (the rescue truck) with one man gives you the allusion that the truck is in service when in fact it is not."

The newsletter goes on to accuse Fiorentini of "vilifying" firefighters and using a "berate and publicize" management strategy.

"We are being stripped of the resources we need to do our job," the newsletter said. "Through a combination of lies, delays, deceit and intimidation, the mayor has made it clear that his only intent is to maintain political advantage over YOUR fire department and its members. He does this by playing Russian roulette with YOUR safety."

According to the mayor's written decision in the "rescue truck matter," firefighters union president Greg Roberts initially requested a hearing to oppose any change in rescue truck staffing. After the hearing was scheduled, however, Roberts notified the city that the union would not attend. The mayor held the hearing anyway Feb. 7 with DeNaro and fire Chief Richard Borden. The decision to reduce the rescue truck's manning to one firefighter was made at that meeting, Fiorentini said.

"It is unfortunate the union chose not to be present to offer their views of the various alternatives which were offered," the mayor said.

The mayor said the firefighters sent the city a letter blaming the overtime shortfall on Fiorentini's failure to hire more firefighters. But, "nothing in their letter disputed the deficit or suggested any other means of meeting it," the mayor said. "I find this to be telling."

Fiorentini said he shares the union's frustration with the slow pace of hiring firefighters.

"The city continues to hire firefighters as quickly as outmoded civil service rules allow," he said. "We have hired 13 new firefighters in the past 12 months."

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

McClatchy-Tribune News Service