Chief Leader - March 16, 2010

Also Eyes Engine Staffing Cut

Mr. Cassano said in testimony during a budget hearing of the City Council's Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee that while the elimination of companies would undoubtedly lead to increased response times and that the FDNY's "operations will be severely taxed," his office might determine that entire firehouses could be axed if the neighboring area had sufficient nearby coverage.

Highlighting that the company closings would realize $37.4 million in savings, the Commissioner stressed that, "Serious fires have declined nearly 20 percent in the last two years, coinciding with a major citywide fire prevention and education initiative that reached 1.5 million New Yorkers," and that "fire deaths have been at an all-time low during the last eight years."

UFA President Steve Cassidy argued that the FDNY's numbers on response times were artificially low, saying "The statistics that they use are outrageous."

Commissioner Cassano added that reducing staffing on engine companies by one person would realize $20 million over the course of four years and not compromise safety.

"As I have indicated, more than two-thirds of our engines are currently operating-safely and effectively- with four Firefighters and have operated in such fashion for more than 20 years," Mr. Cassano said. "Moreover, engine companies are always paired for structural fire operations. Even at a first alarm, two engines, two ladders and a Chief respond. And when one of those responding engine companies is a four-Firefighter engine, a third engine company is dispatched."

UFA: Slows Hose Operations

The UFA has always opposed reducing Firefighters on engine companies, arguing that four Firefighters cannot establish a hose line as fast as companies with five plus one officer.

"Hopefully, we will be able to come to an agreement with the UFA on our plan," Mr. Cassano said. "However, if we cannot reach an accord with the UFA, arbitration will be necessary. The current budget climate necessitates that compromises must be made and we think we would be successful in making this argument before an arbitration panel, if it comes to that."

Fire union officials had hoped that Mr. Cassano, who was appointed in December, would be a fiercer advocate for department funding than his predecessor, Nicholas Scoppetta, who had never been a firefighter. Mr. Cassano has held every rank in the department.

"I'm not in the halls of power when these arguments are made, but I believe he's making the arguments, and in the end Commissioner Cassano is a good soldier," Uniformed Fire Officers Association President Alexander Hagan said before the hearing. "And whatever decision is made by the administration he will enact. In other words, if you give him enough re- sources to keep every firehouse open he would do it, but ultimately he doesn't make the decision; he only makes the argument, and I believe he's making that argument."

Council Saved 16 Cos. in '09

The Mayor's fire cuts would go deeper than the ones proposed and averted last year when the Council allocated $17 million to keep 16 fire companies open. In that instance, the department had offered the UFA the option of reducing staffing in exchange for keeping those units running.

This year, the department also faces the prospect of even deeper cuts if Governor Paterson's budget is adopted as proposed, which would force the department to close 62 companies in total, and cut more than 1,000 Firefighter and fire officer jobs.

Mr. Cassano pointed out that 90 percent of the FDNY's budget is spent on operations and that 26 percent of the civilian staff has been cut since 2003. He dismissed several suggestions from Council Members that they claimed would save money and use resources more efficiently, including having fewer fire companies conduct building inspections, with civilians employees picking up the slack.

"We got firefighters in the buildings in their area, to be familiarized with the buildings," he said. "They're drilling and training at the same time. I don't want to take that away from them."