By Evy Lewis
Daily Southtown
HARVEY, Ill. — Ever since Harvey laid off more than half its Fire Department due to an ongoing fiscal crisis, the city has made use of mutual aid supplied by surrounding municipalities, including Dolton and Hazel Crest, without being able to reciprocate.
About 40% of Harvey’s city staff was furloughed in October following the city’s declaration of fiscal crisis, including about half of the Fire Department.
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Four more firefighters were laid off in a second round of layoffs in late November. Harvey Firemen’s Association Local 471’s secretary said at the time the Fire Department was down to three firefighters on most shifts, when they should have a minimum of seven.
Harvey has partially compensated for the low staffing via mutual aid from the fire departments of surrounding municipalities through the Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, according to information the Daily Southtown obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.
Between Oct. 16, when Harvey announced a state of financial distress, and May 1 of this year, the Dolton Fire Department dispatched its engines in response to calls in Harvey 24 times, according to the village of Dolton.
In the same time period, the Hazel Crest Fire Department answered 58 requests for aid in Harvey, generally with between three and five personnel, according to documents provided by the village. Not all requests ended with firefighters actually working a fire; 24 were canceled en route.
Between Jan. 21 and May 1 , the Riverdale Fire Department answered requests for aid from Harvey 21 times. In comparison, the Riverdale Fire Department answered requests for aid nine times each to South Holland and Dolton in the same time frame, according to Riverdale data.
It’s the norm for fire departments to exchange mutual aid, said Kevin Lyne, operations section chief at MABAS.
“It’s many many many times a day, around the state, that mutual aid is requested in some shape or form,” Lyne said. “And that could be, just, you know, an ambulance on a car crash, they need that for multiple patients. It could be for a structure fire.”
At the time the state of financial distress and accompanying furloughs were announced, then- Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark said one reason residents should not worry about emergency response is because this type of mutual support was already common practice. He said he had already talked to mayors in neighboring communities about providing aid.
“Some of them I’ve called and some of them have reached out on their own,” Clark said. “And they’ve been very supportive and trying to help as much as they possibly can.”
Due to its financial situation, Harvey has not reciprocated by providing aid back to other municipalities over the past six months.
A city spokesperson said since October, the Harvey Fire Department has only activated through MABAS once, for station coverage. That occurs when the regular staff for a station is out on a call and another town covers the station in case another call comes in.
Harvey spokesperson Sabha Abour said in a statement the city has been strengthened through the financial challenge by unwavering support of neighboring municipalities via mutual aid assistance.
“Their partnership and support continue to reflect the power of regional leadership and shared commitment to public service,” Abour said.
Dolton resident Beth McBride raised concerns about the imbalance at a February Harvey City Council meeting.
“These firefighters are doing extra duty for Harvey because they are real servants. They really are concerned that fires get put out. But it’s very concerning that the situation has gotten to the place where there’s four firefighters on duty with every shift here in Harvey,” McBride said. “I’m just imploring you, asking you, seeking that you would search for ways to bring more firefighters back on duty.”
Acting Mayor Shirley Drewenski, who was not available to be interviewed, has said the city is prioritizing returning furloughed employees to work.
Abour said five firefighters have been recalled, while two have retired.
While Lyne declined to comment on the situation in Harvey specifically, he said the ability to provide mutual aid fluctuates with a community’s circumstances. Communities give what they can when they have the ability, he said.
“When we look at that reciprocity on mutual aid, that’s not always an even thing,” Lyne said. “A community’s posture to either give or receive mutual aid is, in any snapshot of time, is not indicative of their inability to support their community. That is not an overall mark on that community.”
Fire departments face staffing difficulties across the country, he said, and it can be challenging if a community is relying on mutual aid for day-to-day operations.
“If a community was requesting mutual aid on incidents that are larger incidents, that require not just a single engine or a single ambulance or a single response for that, and they’re requesting mutual aid to augment their daily staffing, that becomes a challenge for the surrounding communities that want to continue to provide mutual aid and are, at some point in time, maybe in need of mutual aid themselves,” Lyne said.
There is no one fix when mutual aid becomes one-sided, Lyne said. Issues with the distribution of aid are generally handled by MABAS on a regional level.
“Every agency’s daily staffing and ability to respond, there’s a lot of things that contribute to that,” Lyne said. “I just hope that … whatever their norm is, that they get to their norm.”
Markham Mayor Roger Agpawa, who is the public safety committee chair of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, said the MABAS system is resilient.
“It’s pretty difficult to stress it,” Agpawa said. “At some point, I would say it can get a little taxing, because after some time you have a lot of people who could be worked a little more than normal.”
Markham is one of the several communities that has supplied mutual aid to Harvey through MABAS. Agpawa said he’d spoken to Drewenski recently, and was sympathetic to Harvey’s situation.
“Through the years, I can’t say that Markham has not been in similar circumstances of needing a lot of aid and having budget cuts and going through staffing situations,” Agpawa said. “These towns were equally there over the years, and it kind of moves around throughout the Southland.”
Has your department seen an increase in mutual aid calls because of staffing shortages or budget issues at neighboring departments? Share how it’s affecting your crews and response coverage.
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