by MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL and SEAN GARDINER
Despite his budget's proposal to close 20 fire companies, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday he will try to keep as many firehouses open as possible.
The city has 221 firehouses. The majority of these firehouses have both engine companies, responsible for extinguishing blazes, and ladder companies, responsible for search and rescue, forced entry and ventilation.
Mr. Bloomberg said his cuts would target those firehouses that have both and cut one of the two, leaving one company still intact.
"What we'll try to do is find a ways to keep the number of firehouses that we have constant- keep them all open," Mr. Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show.
That way, Mr. Bloomberg said, "there would be somebody to respond quickly to save lives." He acknowledged it wouldn't be as good as having a more fully staffed firehouse, but he said that's something the city "just cannot afford."
Stephen Cassidy, president of Uniformed Firefighters Association, said a serious fire typically requires two engine companies and one ladder company.
"It's clear that the mayor is petrified to be branded as somebody who is closing firehouses," he said.
Mr. Cassidy called the mayor's plan "just a deceptive attempt to fool the public" and to create the illusion that fire response times won't go up. Fire response time, Mr. Cassidy said, is measured from the initial call to the time the first fire truck arrives, not when firefighters first "get water on the fire," something he fears will be delayed by the mayor's proposal.
The list of engine companies targeted for closure is expected to be released May 17. While the goal is to avoid closing any firehouses entirely, officials acknowledged Friday that may not be possible.
Last year, the administration proposed closing 16 companies, but the City Council funneled enough money to give the companies a one-year reprieve.
Mr. Bloomberg has lauded an improved fire safety record in New York, and said he's re-examining the locations of many firehouses because they have not kept up with changing demographics in the city.
Mr. Cassidy said he doesn't believe any fire houses should be cut or even halved. The Fire Department should be looking elsewhere in its budget, such as management, to make cuts before "cutting the people who are saving lives," he argued.
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