West says fire stations won’t close but staffing will drop

Spokane Mayor Jim West on Monday said he is planning to keep open the city’s 14 fire stations but will reduce staffing on a number of fire rigs as part of a citywide reduction in services next year.

The mayor is expected to unveil his proposal today for cutting more than $10 million from general tax-funded services to match a forecast for revenue of $116 million for 2005. Cuts are expected in police, streets, libraries, parks and other City Hall services.

Currently, the fire department has seven pumper engines with four-person crews and seven pumper engines with three-person crews. It also operates three ladder trucks with four-person crews.

West said the fire proposal currently under consideration would reduce staffing so that just four firetrucks would have four-person crews. The rest would have three-person crews. It would mean the loss of about 50 firefighter jobs, West said.

The paramedic and rescue rigs at Station 1 would be taken out of service and their staffs reassigned in the proposed reductions, officials said.

Lt. Greg Borg, president of the firefighters Local 29, said the cuts would drop the city’s on-duty staffing from 63 to 50 firefighters, down from on-duty force of 86 in the late 1970s.

He said four-person crews are more effective because they can lay a hose from a hydrant and start an attack on a fire immediately. A three-person crew must rely on water in its tank and await arrival of a second engine, which hooks up to a fire hydrant for an unlimited water supply.

He said four people are needed to manage advanced life support calls as well.

Reduced staffing would mean that more firetrucks will be needed on many calls, and that would create gaps in other parts of the city that wouldn’t have crews available.

Borg said union firefighters believe the staffing levels on fire rigs may be a negotiable contract item. The firefighters have argued for closing a neighborhood station or stations to maintain adequate staffing on trucks. Firefighters are in contract talks with the city.

“The city has to decide what level of fire protection it is going to have,” Borg said.

There are about 280 firefighters, including fire marshals and managers, on the force. The department’s 2004 budget is $25.6 million.

Also Monday, the Library Board was given a series of options for cutting about $1 million from its $7.5 million budget. The leading option calls for reduced service at all branches. The downtown branch would be open five days a week; the Shadle and South Hill branches, three days a week; and the Hillyard, East Side and Indian Trail branches, two days a week.

The options for cuts will be the subject of a series of town hall meetings at each of the libraries in the next few weeks. The board may adopt its budget Nov. 15.

During action Monday evening, the City Council:

•Tabled indefinitely a proposed water quality assurance ordinance.

•Approved revised stormwater controls for new development with special restrictions on construction in the Moran Prairie and Five Mile Prairie areas.

•Adopted an ordinance setting a one-year time limit for collecting initiative petition signatures.

•Created new regulations for the use of motorized scooters, including a minimum age of 16 and requirements for lights at night and mufflers. Also, riders must use motorcycle helmets.