April 15, 2009 in City

City firefighter layoffs possible

Rescue response times could suffer, fire official says

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Christopher Anderson photo

Spokane firefighters, police and AMR crews respond to a multiple-car accident at Second and Sunset on Tuesday. Budget cuts next year could result in firefighter layoffs.
(Full-size photo)

Calls for fire service in Spokane have gone up, but the number of firefighters may be going down.

Layoffs are possible, officials told Fire Department employees Tuesday during the biannual State of the Department. It would take 15 positions to trim nearly $1.3 million from the department’s budget, they said.

City Administrator Ted Danek and Gavin Cooley, the city’s chief financial officer, were at the presentation to begin discussions of the city’s $5.5 million budget shortfall. City officials had the same type of brainstorming session with the Spokane Police Department.

“These discussions are to try to avoid cutting positions,” said Danek, adding he’s interested in hearing cost-saving ideas about daily operations from firefighters.

The last time the Fire Department had layoffs was in 2004, when 28 firefighters were cut, in part because the firefighters union refused to make any wage concessions, according to previous news reports.

The Fire Department has 301 firefighters, Local 29 President Greg Borg said.

Meanwhile, Spokane’s call volume went up nearly 5 percent, to 28,870 calls, from 2007 to 2008. The department’s response time lags behind the National Fire Protection Agency’s standard response time by 3 ½ minutes. The standard time is five minutes.

“We still are feeling the consequences of that reduction in the street, daily … in terms of response times, outcomes and the system’s overall performance,” Assistant Chief Brian Schaeffer said. “We are at a pivotal point right now where the deployment system is at its capacity.”

But with the impending budget cuts, layoffs may be unavoidable, Schaeffer said. Eighty percent of Fire Department’s costs are personnel.

“If they (the union) want to avoid layoffs, they are going to have to do something different with their cost-of-living increases,” Cooley said. The increases are 2 percent to 5 percent for next year, he added.

Borg said the union is just getting a grip on what’s going to happen.

“Our goal is to not have anybody laid off or take any cuts in pay,” he said.

Borg also acknowledged that the department is behind in response times. “We don’t have enough fire apparatus or stations to meet the national level. We don’t have enough personnel either,” he said. “And if they cut us again, that will make it even worse.”

Jody Lawrence-Turner can be reached at (509) 459-5593 or jodyl@spokesman.com.

Seven comments on this story so far. Add yours!

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  BT on April 15 at 7:35 a.m.

  I think before the city administator starts cutting into a much needed area for local residents, they need to look at layoffs in the mid management level positions first. Just like other major companies the city of spokane is management top heavy. what does this mean for them, they pay too many department heads to attend meetings, and accomplish nothing during the day. By reducing mid level management the city could save more money than by reducing the safety of the citizens. Why do they continue to cut positions in uniform positions? Because, these folks are needed. The city like most private organizations continue telling people that lower level layoffs will help reduce budget declines when actually higher level positions have a higher salary, and by eliminating those or restructing them will help reduce more cost than laying off much needed emergency personnel. Why does the city have so many levels of management who knows, but the citizens of Spokane really need to look at this, and contact the city before they start layoffs in emergency personnel.

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  liarsinnews on April 15 at 7:38 a.m.

  The usual hot button is pushed once again by Mayor Verner with the threat of laying off fire fighters. Another punch below the belt was used, to even mention police. I`ve written the Mayor et al explaining that there are full departments that could be cut. The officials have no shame.

• 

  RK on April 15 at 8:04 a.m.

  Perhaps the fire department could increase response times if they didn’t have officers surfing child porn and trying to lure teenagers into compromising situations. The management of the fire department doesn’t appear to have much control over the men and women they are supposed to be supervising.

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  westside on April 15 at 1:00 p.m.

  In reality, the fire dept is heavy in very expensive salaries. They have to be paid competively!Several years on the job commands $50,000 a year. Dozens of upper rank employees, Lieutenants, Captains, all pulling in $70,000 plus each year. Plus 10 or 12 Batttalion chiefs pulling in $100,000 each. Plus all the medical, sick leave, benefits. With all this, Spokane fire dept is way behind wages paid elsewhere in Wa. state! Spokane just doesn’t have the private sector wage base to fund these depts to the fullest. Borg would like 30 more fire fighters on then job! Where will the money come from?? So cutting ‘high paid’ management positions to keep lower paid people in their jobs isnt possible…not many low paid people in the fire dept. But outside fire dept probably dozens of administrators, assistant to the administrator’s, etc could be cut.