By Gracie Bonds Staples
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

EAST POINT, Ga. — Paul Douglas was never one of those kids who daydreamed about becoming a firefighter, but once he got in, he knew he belonged.

Fire stations were like fraternity houses where everybody looked after everybody. He appreciated the camaraderie, as anyone would have. "We were buddies," he said.

None of that, not years of service or rank, seemed to matter, Douglas and others said, when East Point officials handed out pink slips earlier this week and shut down Stations 1 and 5.

Douglas, a captain from Station 1, had heard of the impending layoffs and the planned meeting where firefighters' names would be ticked off, but he said he never received any official notification. He got the news Monday.

"I just showed up at the fire station," he said.

Now Douglas finds himself looking for work, a new place to belong. On Tuesday, he and about 50 others from across the department were gone.

Station 1, at 2757 East Point St., and Station 5, at 3949 Washington Road, sat quiet and empty this week despite still being listed on the city's Web site as two of five Fire Department locations. The stations were closed Monday, the last day of the city's fiscal year. Only the buildings themselves, a lone fire engine at each and the names left on empty lockers inside Station 5 hinted at what used to be.

The Fire Department closures and job cuts, which include some from other city departments, are expected to save the cash-strapped city more than $3 million, officials have said. Mayor Joseph Macon was not available to comment Thursday or Friday. Fire Chief Rosemary Cloud, said to be out of the office until July 21, also was not available. The few firefighters left behind and even some let go were afraid to talk on the record and referred queries to city officials. They said they're hoping for a recall.

Charles Kendrick, 44, who also received a pink slip, said he's hoping, too, but can't afford to wait until that day. He has three children, twin girls and a son, in college and a 10- and a 17-year-old at home. He, like everyone else who was laid off, is looking for work.

"I'm moving forward," he said. "My family has to eat."

It is a sentiment shared by many, including Douglas and former Lt. Jason Cassell.

Cassell, 31, had been with the department almost 11 years. Despite the rumors, he said, he never expected he'd be among those who lost their jobs.

"Experience is everything in the public safety business," he said. "I didn't expect that the senior-most people would be laid off."

And because the department had been promoting people --- including himself four months earlier --- he said he believed the city's finances had changed for the better. He was wrong about that, too.

"For weeks we knew the stations were closing, but we didn't know who would be released," he explained. "There was a lot of speculation that they'd cut from the bottom up --- last hired, first fired."

"Now I'm concerned and worried because obviously I'm unemployed," he said. "I have two small children, a wife, the typical debt that everyone has --- student loans, car loan, a mortgage."

Douglas finished first in the hiring process in December 1981. He has kept the letter from the department congratulating him, along with other letters of commendation and old newspaper articles detailing heroic moment at fires in a scrapbook ever since. Those were the days, he said, but none compared to the day he rose to captain. It was Nov. 1, 2004.

"That was a great moment. It meant I had accomplished quite a bit," he said.

Douglas learned last month the captain rank would be eliminated. City officials, he said, called it an "unnecessary level of management."

Though his three children are grown now, he said he is worried. He has no health insurance and at 49, he is ineligible to retire. When he does, he says he will only get 40 percent of his of salary.

"They screwed me pretty hard," he said.

Douglas said he is scrambling to figure out his next step, hoping he can land a job soon. For now, he said, he just wants to forget. He's thought of nothing else since the layoffs. "When will this story run?" he asked. "I want to keep a copy for my scrapbook."

Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution