TUCSON, Ariz. — Rural Metro will assume operations of the South Tucson Fire Department at the end of January, a change that will result in the termination of contracts for the department’s 30 current firefighters.
City officials initially said the agreement with Rural Metro would not replace or eliminate the South Tucson Fire Department. The contract does not include the 30 firefighters now on the department’s payroll, 13 News reported. Those contracts are scheduled to be officially terminated when Rural Metro takes over later this month.
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A South Tucson firefighter who requested anonymity said they discovered a memo on the station’s table announcing that Rural Metro would take over Feb. 1 and that their last day would be Jan. 31. 13 News obtained the memo, which nearly 30 South Tucson employees say informed them their positions would be eliminated.
A letter told each firefighter their jobs would end Jan. 31 and that Rural Metro would staff the department Feb. 1. It cited the city’s Reserve Firefighter Plan, which allows the city to discontinue the plan, a detail firefighters said was not made clear during the process.
In the city’s news release in December, officials stated:
“City officials emphasized that this agreement does not replace or eliminate the South Tucson Fire Department. The South Tucson Fire Department is here to stay. There will be no change to the department’s name, branding, or identity, and services will continue to be delivered under City authority.”
However, city officials say the decision by the council came down to finances.
Firefighters told 13 News the city’s budget figures were inflated, disputing claims they operated on a $1.6 million budget and saying their expenses “have never been over a million dollars.”
The city’s budget also counted an auto-aid contract with the Tucson Fire Department that firefighters say was rarely used and muddied cost estimates. All but one South Tucson Fire Department employee is a reserve firefighter with a primary job elsewhere, positions firefighters say aren’t optional.
“There is no such thing as just a secondary job…you need that second job to support your family,” a firefighter told 13 News.
