Brent D. Wistrom
The Wichita Eagle
Copyright 2007 The Wichita Eagle
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
WICHITA, Kan. — Parts of west, east and south Wichita are underserved by the city’s Fire Department and some may not be served at all, the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 135, is charging in a series of advertisements hitting newspapers and TV sets this weekend.
The campaign, dubbed Save Our Firefighters, is a two-pronged effort aimed at putting public pressure on City Council members to increase staffing and expand services as well as increase firefighters’ wages.
The fire union’s contract is expired and negotiations have soured in recent months.
Union President Doug Pickard said Friday that the city has motioned for impasse, a move that triggers a series of third-party studies to show what type of raise would be fair.
Neither the union nor the city’s hired negotiators will discuss the percentage increases each side has offered.
A Web site set up by the union, www.saveourfirefighters.org [http://www.saveourfirefighters.org], says that Wichita should have 160 more firefighters to serve a city of its size and that it lacks stations needed to get to fires within the four-minute response time some organizations say is necessary to save lives and property.
“I’m surprised there hasn’t been some kind of tax revolt or something,” Pickard said. “We’re not trying to start one, but we want to make folks aware their fire service is not what it’s supposed to be.”
The city has already taken some steps to improve fire protection.
Last year, the City Council approved a plan to build three more fire stations, starting in east Wichita, then west Wichita and finally in the South City neighborhood.
Land has been purchased for the east location and construction of the west and south stations is expected to begin later this year.
An Eagle analysis of response times last year revealed that South City, a blue-collar area plagued by high response times, most needs a new station.
But instead, stations will first be built near newly developing, mostly affluent neighborhoods at the city’s east and west fringes. Both neighborhoods have far fewer calls that result in response times of more than seven minutes -- the standard by which the Wichita Fire Department measures itself.
City fire officials presented the council with three fire station options, one of which would have built all three stations simultaneously and added 20 new firefighters.
But higher costs and questions over whether the city could really hire and train enough firefighters in a short time led council members to choose another option.
Council member Jim Skelton said he could not comment on ongoing salary negotiations but that more firefighters and stations are clearly needed.
“It’s a priority need for the city of Wichita,” said Skelton, who is perhaps the most outspoken proponent of additional stations. “There’s always options in the city budget.”