Tim Jamison
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa
WATERLOO, Iowa — Short staffing and illness prompted the city to shut down one of its fire stations Thursday.
A sign against the door of Station No. 5, at 617 Nevada St., stated the station’s “duties are temporarily re-assigned” and directed residents to call 911 for emergency assistance.
Mayor Tim Hurley said the closure was just temporary, due to a staffing shortfall, and noted the same station was closed twice in August.
“We’re down nine firefighters and two called in sick (Thursday),” Hurley said. “We can’t run it with less than three (firefighters) there.”
Station No. 1 in downtown Waterloo was covering calls for Station No. 5.
The situation has drawn concern from the local firefighters’ association.
“This is a great concern,” said Dave Floyd, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 66. “It limits the response times dramatically to the public on the east side of town and also to the city of Elk Run Heights, which pays under a contract for fire protection.”
Floyd noted a fire doubles in size every 30 seconds, “so if we add three minutes to our response times that puts the public at risk.”
Hurley said Waterloo Fire Rescue just received authorization to fill two of the vacant firefighter positions, and he expects more positions will be filled in November. The decision on which station to close is made by the fire chief.
Staffing problems and overtime issues several years ago forced rolling shutdowns at Fire Station No. 3, on Donald Street near Allen Hospital.
Copyright 2009 Waterloo Courier