Detroit firefighters sue city over staff cuts

City wants to eliminate half of the fire companies

August 30, 2012 05:46 AM

By Christine Ferretti
The Detroit News

DETROIT — The city’s firefighter union sued the city Tuesday to halt its decision to reduce the department’s staffing levels.

The Detroit Fire Fighters Association filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Wayne County Circuit Court seeking a permanent injunction against the city’s “ill-advised decision” to eliminate a number of fire companies on claims it violates the city charter as well as fire prevention ordinances and regulations.

The lawsuit comes after the city in recent weeks declared it will eliminate and “brown-out” approximately 30 — or half — of Detroit’s fire companies, reducing the number of fire trucks and equipment that can respond to a city fire alarm.

The “unexamined” city action will decrease the fire department’s response time and the ability of firefighters to “fight fires, protect themselves and rescue people and property endangered by fires,” the lawsuit says.

“In our job seconds count. This isn’t a simple job, it’s about life and death,” said DFFA President Dan McNamara.

Naomi Patton, a spokeswoman for Mayor Dave Bing, said Tuesday the office does not comment on pending litigation.

News of the suit comes about a week after a Wayne County Circuit judge granted an unrelated request from the city’s police union to temporarily halt 10 percent pay cuts for officers.

McNamara said the fire union is asking its members and the public to assemble at 9 a.m. Wednesday for a news briefing in front of closed Engine 57 Quarters at 13960 Burt.

The 139-square-mile city with an estimated population of more than 700,000 has an average response time of seven minutes, which exceeds the national average of eight minutes, according to Tuesday’s lawsuit. The filing notes that as recently as last week, a disabled Detroit man perished in a home fire along with his stepfather because a fire engine blocks from his home had been “browned-out.”

The city estimates firefighters receive 30,000 calls and about 9,500 false alarms annually. The DFFA is a bargaining unit for Detroit firefighters and represents 881 employees.