The Bayonne Journal
Copyright 2007 The Republican Company, Springfield, MA.
All Rights Reserved
BAYONNE, N.J. — Under pressure to save money, the Hook Road Fire House in Bayonne was closed for the 24-hour shift that began Saturday morning at 8 a.m. and the 57th Street Firehouse had a half staff - three firefighters, instead of its normal complement of six.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. A Sunday morning fire ripped through five row houses along 18th Street, leaving 13 families homeless.
The closed and partially staffed firehouses would not have been the first to respond to the incident, officials said.
But given the level of staffing that was eventually needed to quell the blaze, the closures can’t be overlooked, according to some officials.
But, some said it may have affected how quickly backup arrived.
“The battalion chief did not have enough resources,” said Michael Petrakian, president of Bayonne Firefighters Local 11, noting Jersey City firefighters had to be called in the minute the fire escalated to a second alarm.
Fire officials acknowledged they are down 20 firefighters from their maximum authorized number of firefighters of 196, leading to rolling closures for at least a year.
But Department Director Patrick Boyle maintains the closures did not contribute to the response time or to the damage caused by the blaze.
Two elected officials who have been pressing for an across-the-board hiring freeze, said they hoped other elected officials wouldn’t use Sunday’s tragedy to make political hay.
“I would hope that the mayor and union officials would not try to use this incident inappropriately to further their desire to hire more firefighters,” said Councilman-at-large Anthony Chiappone, who recently voted against adding 12 firefighters to the department and has pushed for a study of staffing levels in the police and fire departments.
Mayor Joseph Doria Jr. could not be reached for comment, but his spokesman, Joseph Ryan, said the council recently voted 3 to 2 to approve hiring 12 new firefighters in the fiscal year beginning July 1.