By Bill O’Boyle
The Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — The number of firefighters employed by the city has decreased so much that the president of the local union says fire protection has become compromised.
Thomas Makar, president of Local 104 of the firefighters union, says the “doing more with less” is a term that shouldn’t be used in fire service, adding “the less are doing more, but it may not be enough.”
Makar assures residents that every city firefighter will continue to do his job, “even if the reduced staffing level endangers the lives of citizens and firefighters.”
But Mayor Tom Leighton maintains current staffing is sufficient and points to response times that match the national average.
“Our response times are more than adequate,” Leighton said. “We could even operate with less staff and maintain the high level of safety.”
Makar disagrees, saying the current staffing level raises three concerns: the risk of excessive property damage; the risk of serious injury or death to people trapped in a fire; and the risk of injury to firefighters.
Makar points to two studies: the first was compiled in May 1995 by Stephen Lloyd Associates of Park Forest, Ill., and was commissioned by the city; the second was done in March 2002 by the International Association of Fire Fighters, and was commissioned by the local union.
“To purchase new apparatus and equipment to replace worn-out apparatus and equipment while reducing the minimum ‘on duty’ staffing levels, when the city’s own fire protection study advises not to, only provides an illusion of fire protection,” Makar said.
Staffing a key issue
The Lloyd study recommended a minimum of 17 firefighters on duty per shift while the IAFF study recommended increasing staffing.
Currently, the city has 14 firefighters on duty per shift. There are two shifts — 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. — with firefighters at the three city stations. Leighton said the average response time to fire calls has remained at seven minutes — right at the national average. With the location of three city fire houses — Hollenback at the city’s north end, headquarters near center city and the Parrish and High Street station on the city’s southern border — the department can respond promptly to all calls, the mayor said.
“They can say they need 14, 17 or 20 per shift,” Leighton said. “It’s what we can afford.”
Leighton said the city has paid $236,000 in overtime to the firefighters in the first nine months of this year, for staffing purposes only.
“As far as overtime for actual emergency services, we have paid out just $23,000 during the same nine-month period,” Leighton said.
While the department’s ranks have decreased from 86 when Leighton took office in 2004 to the current 72, he said adding more positions is not cost-effective.
“If we agreed to bring the per-shift staffing up to 17, we would need to hire 12 new firefighters,” Leighton said. “That would cost the city at least $1 million more per year. We will never hit that amount in paying out overtime.”
Leighton said the fire chief — a position that he expects to fill within the next 30 days — has the authority to call out as many firefighters as deemed necessary to fight each fire. The former chief, Jake Lisman, retired in August.
Makar said the mayor is right; however, the union chief says it’s not the best way to fight fires.
“Response time is key, and we do get there quickly to start attacking the fire,” Makar said. “But we are already compromised with the number of firefighters we have to perform all tasks necessary. If we have to call out more people, the response time from home is a lot longer than from a fire station.”
Makar is concerned about what could happen in the minutes between first response and the call out for more assistance from off-duty firefighters.
“First off, you could lose the building to the point where you are no longer fighting the fire, you are merely containing it,” Makar said. “And if there are people trapped inside, it could mean serious injury or worse due to the time it will take to safely enter the building and search.”
Leighton said the union contract demands that the city first call out all city firefighters before another community can be contacted for help. He said Luzerne County 911 does the call-out, but the mayor said a lot of time is lost during the process.
Makar argues that is why the city needs more firefighters to allow for prompt response and efficient firefighting.
“Yes, we will show up at your door promptly,” Makar said. “But to have a full complement at the scene takes much longer. There’s just not enough of us.”
Firefighters’ benefits
Makar said the union has made concessions and is willing to discuss issues with the city administration. Leighton said it would be a significant savings to the city to allow only two people to be off per shift for vacation. The contract allows for three to be off per shift. Makar said the union was willing to discuss the issue in return for a commitment to hire more firefighters.
Leighton said the average firefighter earns $59,200 per year; that will increase to $62,000 in 2009. With benefits added, the average cost rises to $88,700 before any overtime is paid. He said the city averages about $1,000 per day in overtime pay to the department.
Makar said that with no recent hires, staff length of service has increased, driving the average salary up.
Leighton said firefighters work an average of 183 days per year — noting they work three days on, then three days off. An average work week for a firefighter is 42 hours. The mayor said the average number of vacation days per firefighter is 22 days and the average number of sick days is 21. Makar said all city employees have similar benefits and noted the 42-hour work week is more than any other city employee. He said day shift is nine hours and night shift is 15 hours.
The current union contract was signed in 2004 shortly after Leighton took office. It runs through 2010.
Jonathan Moore, director of fire and emergency medical services at the IAFF, said fighting a structure fire is like a well-choreographed ballet — all players/participants need to perform their parts perfectly or the ballet doesn’t go well.
“You really need 15 to 17 firefighters on the scene to accomplish all necessary tasks,” Moore said. “The trick to this ballet is that the whole show has to happen nearly simultaneously.”
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