Opinions and Comments on the Detroit Fire Department Crisis.

[dfdems]

2200 Crane
Engine 26 - deactivated
Ladder 14 - remains activated

1113 Coplin
Ladder 29 - deactivated
Engine 38 - remains activated

2820 Central
Engine 37 - deactivated
Emergency Medical Service No. 9 - remains activated

3812 Mt. Elliot
Engine 18 - deactivated
Ladder 10 - remains activated

3396 Vinewood
Ladder 4 - deactivated
Engine 10 - remains activated

And yet the Mayor adds 12 people to his staff and closes fire houses. What a huge tool. Engine 37 is less than 2 blocks from two 8+ story structures with a mainly elderly, disabled population.

The unofficial Detroit EMS webpage

[Weruj1]

Alarms Sound Over Fire Cuts in Detroit



Updated: 05-17-2005 09:31:13 AM
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SALINA ALI
Detroit Free Press via Associated Press


Many Detroit residents and firefighters said they thought Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's proposal to shut down five fire companies and lay off 41 firefighters was outrageous.

But now recommendations to the City Council have many sounding alarms.

The council, looking to close a projected $300-million deficit in the city budget, is eyeing $15 million in additional cuts to the Fire Department operations budget and $7 million in salary reductions.

That could mean a total of 147 firefighters would be laid off and 10 fire companies would be deactivated.

Neither of the plans would close any fire stations.

"We tried to use a laser, but City Council used a hatchet," Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams said Monday, referring to the decision on budget cuts.

The council also is looking at recommendations that would cut $54 million from the Police Department as it looks to cut the deficit.

Council members say the plan presented by the mayor is so full of holes, they have no confidence that it will be balanced.

They say they have little choice but to try to come up with a revised budget that will get the city through the next year.

"This would be horrible for our community," Kilpatrick said Monday at a news conference. "The decisions I made in my budget did not come easy. But you can't cut with an ax."

Adams, Fire Commissioner Tyrone Scott and Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings met with council members Monday to discuss the council's proposed cuts. Bully-Cummings and Scott implored the council not to make additional cuts to their departments, which they said are already working with minimal funding.

Meanwhile, members of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association Local 344 spoke out against the proposed cuts at a news conference in front of two burned houses at Elm and Harrison in southwest Detroit. The neighborhood has been the target of arsonists.

State Rep. Steve Tobocman, D-Detroit, who along with area residents joined union members at the news conference, said the city needs to seek alternative budget cuts.

"There is not a lot of fat to trim, but fire services are a matter of life and death, and it's absolutely critical that the city have the resources to respond," Tobocman said.

John Nagy, a 50-year resident of southwest Detroit, said the area needs more, not fewer, firefighters and equipment because of a nearby Marathon oil refinery and heavily industrial Zug Island.

"If these places were ever to catch fire, it would be disastrous to southwest Detroit," he said.

Fresh on the minds of some residents were the fires that swept through five structures in Highland Park on Friday. That city had to rely on Detroit and suburban districts to battle the fires.

"We don't have the fire apparatus and fire equipment," said Lois Koehler, 65, a lifelong resident of southwest Detroit. "They're going to lay off these men when I hear there aren't enough men at fire stations now."

Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins and other council members say police and fire have to be looked at because about a third of the city's budget is spent in these public safety departments.

[MemphisE34a]

I agree with everyone that says this is bigger than a Detroit problem. Within 2 years of the largest attack on American soil the FDNY was closing companies. They were the ones that took the hit. My god, how much sense does that make?

I speculate that by the end of the year we will have closings here in Memphis. We are hot on the trail of Gary, Indiana!

[lvwrench]

detroit

Hey, so whtas new here? Any time that the government is doing good, be it local, state or national things role along good for everyone. When things go sour the first to go are the working stiffs that are there to protect, serve and keep things running. Do you honestly think that the management and political types are going to go? Where I am things are gfrowing and the money is flowing so everybvody is pretty happy and we are adding stations, equipment and people. Of course the politicals will always argue they can't afoord to give a raise in pay, even thought the price of everyhting is climbing and taxes are increasing to feed the political machinery but nothing new there either. What happened to "of the people, for the people and by the people"? It's usually every man (or woman) for themselves. Time for a revolution? Look real close at the whole picture, get the facts and then clean house. I fear that any city sooner or later faces these kinds of situations and like I said the little guy will get the axe.

[Weruj1]

from todays news

Engine Company Closings Bring End to Era, Questions in Michigan



Updated: 07-01-2005 09:58:40 AM
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BILL McGRAW
Detroit Free Press via Associated Press


With chores, chow and the wait for an alarm, Thursday was a routine day for firefighters at Engine Co. 18 on Detroit's east side.

But it was hardly business as usual.

That's because Engine 18 is going out of existence today -- after 113 years of battling blazes in Detroit, a routine that goes back to an era when the engine was pulled by a team of trained horses.

"We're losing a lot of tradition. It's a shame," said Lt. James Shinneman, the commanding officer of Engine 18.

"They are putting peoples' lives in danger by taking an engine out of our neighborhood," said Nefertiti Young, 25, who lives next door. "It's ridiculous. Then it's going to be just like Highland Park, where you wait while the whole block burns down."

City officials are removing from service Engine 18 and four other fire rigs and laying off 65 firefighters today. The moves are part of wider layoffs as the city begins its new fiscal year struggling to balance a budget that is about $300 million out of whack.

From legal secretaries to truck drivers, 677 city employees are out of work today as Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick slashes the payroll and curtails services even as Detroit continues to primp for the July 12 All-Star baseball game and next year's Super Bowl. More cuts could come later in the summer.

No uniformed police officers are affected by today's layoffs, though the city said 17 to 20 emergency medical technicians are losing their jobs.

With the layoffs spread across a municipal workforce of about 17,000, doing away with five large fire rigs is perhaps the most visible sign that the city is retrenching.

"It's potentially going to be devastating for both firefighters and our own citizens," said Dan McNamara, president of the Detroit Fire Fighters Association. "We're going to be playing with a short bench. We have no reserves."

Kilpatrick spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett insisted the administration made Fire Department cutbacks after careful study.

"The deactivations will not make the community vulnerable if a fire breaks out," she said.

Not surprisingly, reassurances from the Kilpatrick administration did not make Thursday's four-man crew of Engine 18 feel any better.

Shinneman noted Engine 18, located on Mt. Elliott south of Gratiot, responds to reported fires at the Detroit Medical Center, Eastern Market, Comerica Park, Ford Field and downtown. After today, another engine will have to take its place on fire runs, and that engine will be traveling from a longer distance.

Engine 18 shares space in its antique firehouse with Ladder Co. 10, and Quiett pointed out that Ladder 10 will remain in service.

Firefighters counter that Quiett's argument is specious because a ladder company's duties at fires differ from those of an engine, which pumps water. Taking five rigs out of service citywide means more work for the remaining crews, they argue.

Of the 17 total firefighters of Engine 18, 15 are being reassigned and two are being laid off.

The crews of Engine 18 and Ladder 10 were planning a farewell barbecue with a special cake Thursday evening. They were to eat it in the 113-year-old fire house that smells a little of soot and is filled with century-old treasures inside and out, like gargoyles, massive oak beams and the remnants of an old watch tower.

At 8 a.m. today, they will turn in their rig, along with its ripper bar, bolt cutter, hoses and axe.

But the bitterness will not go away.

"The city don't give a damn about us, and we put our lives on the line for them," Shinneman said.

[Andyboyfire]

Is there any plan anywhere in the near future to hire or administer some type of Firefighter examination? I'm not sure when the last time the Fire Department even hired was? Thanks.

[hwoods]

Huh??.........

You ARE kidding........ Right?.........

This thread started almost 10 years ago. If anything has remained constant in that time, it would be the P*** Poor situation in Detroit. Big City Career Fire Departments, (For the Most Part) aren't hiring, and won't be.

[nameless]

wow nice resurrection.

Watch the DFD website if you want a job with them.

FDs in the older major cities are always getting downsized, now with the economy being what it is that rate is accelerating.