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Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick says the city and its residents cannot tolerate any more erosion of public safety personnel.Detroit to cut 75 firefighters
Commissioner says five stations will close amid city's budget crisis
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Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick says the city and its residents cannot tolerate any more erosion of public safety personnel.
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Nearly 20 fewer firefighters will be on duty in Detroit at any given moment under a department reorganization plan spurred by the city's fiscal crisis.
Fire Commissioner Tyrone Scott, flanked by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and deputy mayor Anthony Adams, announced Thursday that five fire companies were being decommissioned and 75 firefighters -- 10 of them battalion chiefs who direct rescue personnel at the scene -- would lose their jobs.
The number of firefighters per work shift will drop to 247 from 266.
"I believe that we cannot continue doing things the same way when we are put in a position to do more with less," Scott said.
Senior firefighters will have to pick up the slack caused by the departing battalion chiefs, Scott said. "We have dedicated, hardworking personnel. They know what to do."
In six months, Scott is to present a plan to create a number of "super stations" around the city to provide better fire coverage as well as a way to give advanced life-support training to firefighters.
Like the Police Department reorganization plan unveiled Monday, the new configuration stops short of meeting budget cuts mandated by the City Council.
The council wanted $15 million in cuts; Scott's reorganization saves $8 million. The Police Department was to find $54 million in savings, but just $20 million was found.
Kilpatrick said the city and its residents cannot tolerate any more erosion of public safety personnel.
The mayor estimates his staff will need to come up with $40 million in cost savings from other city departments, which will be done once the council returns from its summer recess next week.
Kilpatrick has given no hints as to what will be cut.
Still, some council members already have said they are leery of where the mayor will find the extra revenue and savings.
If the council does not approve the cuts in other departments, the Police and Fire departments could run out of money before the end of the fiscal year, officials said.
Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel said she was disturbed that more firefighter jobs couldn't be preserved, especially since the firefighters union was actively negotiating contract concessions.
She also fears that much of the financial wrangling is more about the mayoral election than about boosting the city.
"A lot of this could do with the election on Nov. 8," she said.
An order went out from the commissioner that barred firefighters from talking to the media. Still, visits to a pair of firehouses -- the home of Engine Co. 21 on Linwood and that of Ladder Co. 24 on Livernois, both set to be shut down -- found mournful rescue personnel.
At Ladder 24, the firefighter who is believed to be number 65 of the 65 who will lose their jobs was asleep on the lounge sofa.
Another firefighter who expects to lose his job was working in the kitchen on a sign to be erected outside the station:
"Ladder Co 24 Closing Thanks Mayor Kilpatrick."
Other companies to be closed include Ladder 16 on Miller, Engine 47 on Mount Elliott and TAC 2 on West Montcalm. Three members of Engine 20 of the City Airport Crash Crew will be reassigned.
The cuts were "a slap in the face," said Verdine Pierce, vice president of the Detroit Firefighters Association. "We've been trying to negotiate with them to see how we could save money. We'd work more hours for less. But then this," she said.
The firefighters who will lose their jobs have mostly been hired since 2001. "We're going to lose our guys in the 20s and 30s, and in their place we'll have people in their 40s and 50s," Pierce said.
About a half-mile from Engine 21 on Elmhurst, Vera Ross walked her dog and passed a burned-out apartment building.
"I don't know if we're going to be any safer," Ross said. "I'm just going to do my best to make sure I don't do anything that could start a fire. Better safe than sorry."
You can reach David Josar at (313) 222-2073 or djosar@detnews.com.
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