Post by district5 on Dec 7, 2010 20:11:41 GMT -5
City records show idle fire equipment
By Jane Prendergast • jprendergast@enquirer.com • December 7, 2010
On more than 250 days so far this year, at least one piece of Cincinnati fire equipment - a truck or a ladder, for example - sat unused, "browned out" to save money.
Brownouts in Cincinnati Fire Department 2010
80 Number of days with 0 brownout
89 Number of days with 1 brownout
103 Number of days with 2 brownout
43 Number of days with 3 brownout
17 Number of days with 4 brownout
0 Number of days with 5 brownout
252 TOTAL days with a brownout
Source: City of Cincinnati
Next year - if the mayor and city manager's cuts are okayed - nearly one out of four pieces of Cincinnati fire equipment will sit idle every day, on average.
The union insists that will put Cincinnati properties and people in danger, because it will take longer to get the right equipment to fires. The city says it won't.
The "brownouts" this year saved more than $1.9 million in overtime, according to new data released by the city in response to an Enquirer public records request.
The most common scenario: two companies browned out on a day, which happened 103 times. At the most this past year, four were browned out at once and on 80 days, none were browned out.
A brownout means one piece of fire equipment - a truck, a ladder truck, an engine - is taken out of use for a day. It does not mean an entire fire station is shut down. The city maintains 40 companies in 26 stations. A company is browned out when there aren't enough firefighters on duty to staff it. The brownout avoids overtime.
Dohoney, trying to close a $60 million budget gap for next year, proposes laying off 144 firefighters and closing 11 companies but says all 26 stations will remain open with at least one piece of equipment in them.
Marc Monahan, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters doubts that will be a promise the city manager can keep if 144 firefighters get laid off.
The Enquirer requested the brownout data last month after allegations from the fire union that a brownout hampered the department's ability to effectively respond to a Nov. 5 fire in Northside that hurt a girl and her grandfather. One company that could have responded was browned out that day, but others got there promptly, Dohoney said.
The fire department's budget this year is $68 million, the second-biggest chunk of the $359 million operating fund.
Dohoney says it's "mathematically impossible" to fill the budget hole without touching the police or fire departments. Together, they use two-thirds of the general fund. And 83 percent of all general fund spending goes to personnel. He's also recommending 131 police layoffs as part of 370 total layoffs.
Council members, who vote on a final budget by the end of December, are still trying to find ways to save at least some public safety jobs.
There's also some talk by council members about reducing the current mandate of four firefighters on every piece of fire equipment. That began in 1998 for safety, Chief Kroger said. But Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls said she remembers when the department responded with three people on a truck and still maintained its stellar reputation. The department became the first paid, professional fire department in the United States in 1853.
By Jane Prendergast • jprendergast@enquirer.com • December 7, 2010
On more than 250 days so far this year, at least one piece of Cincinnati fire equipment - a truck or a ladder, for example - sat unused, "browned out" to save money.
Brownouts in Cincinnati Fire Department 2010
80 Number of days with 0 brownout
89 Number of days with 1 brownout
103 Number of days with 2 brownout
43 Number of days with 3 brownout
17 Number of days with 4 brownout
0 Number of days with 5 brownout
252 TOTAL days with a brownout
Source: City of Cincinnati
Next year - if the mayor and city manager's cuts are okayed - nearly one out of four pieces of Cincinnati fire equipment will sit idle every day, on average.
The union insists that will put Cincinnati properties and people in danger, because it will take longer to get the right equipment to fires. The city says it won't.
The "brownouts" this year saved more than $1.9 million in overtime, according to new data released by the city in response to an Enquirer public records request.
The most common scenario: two companies browned out on a day, which happened 103 times. At the most this past year, four were browned out at once and on 80 days, none were browned out.
A brownout means one piece of fire equipment - a truck, a ladder truck, an engine - is taken out of use for a day. It does not mean an entire fire station is shut down. The city maintains 40 companies in 26 stations. A company is browned out when there aren't enough firefighters on duty to staff it. The brownout avoids overtime.
Dohoney, trying to close a $60 million budget gap for next year, proposes laying off 144 firefighters and closing 11 companies but says all 26 stations will remain open with at least one piece of equipment in them.
Marc Monahan, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters doubts that will be a promise the city manager can keep if 144 firefighters get laid off.
The Enquirer requested the brownout data last month after allegations from the fire union that a brownout hampered the department's ability to effectively respond to a Nov. 5 fire in Northside that hurt a girl and her grandfather. One company that could have responded was browned out that day, but others got there promptly, Dohoney said.
The fire department's budget this year is $68 million, the second-biggest chunk of the $359 million operating fund.
Dohoney says it's "mathematically impossible" to fill the budget hole without touching the police or fire departments. Together, they use two-thirds of the general fund. And 83 percent of all general fund spending goes to personnel. He's also recommending 131 police layoffs as part of 370 total layoffs.
Council members, who vote on a final budget by the end of December, are still trying to find ways to save at least some public safety jobs.
There's also some talk by council members about reducing the current mandate of four firefighters on every piece of fire equipment. That began in 1998 for safety, Chief Kroger said. But Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls said she remembers when the department responded with three people on a truck and still maintained its stellar reputation. The department became the first paid, professional fire department in the United States in 1853.