Baltimore FFs Union Wants Response Policy Dropped

The union for Baltimore City firefighters wants city lawmakers to rescind the department's new reduced fire response policy.

In a series of tweets Sunday—the first day of the new policy—Baltimore Firefighters, Local 734, claims that the department directive "jeopardized the life of a citizen."

"It’s time to contact your City Council member and Mayor to retract this new policy that puts citizens & firefighters lives in jeopardy," the union stated in a tweet.

Before the policy was enacted, a Baltimore City fire response would include five fire engines, two truck companies, two fire chiefs and a medic, with each engine and truck carrying four firefighters. The new reduced fire response now includes three fire engines, a truck company a fire chief and a medic, the fire union stated.

"That’s 12 less members to help search for victims and extinguish the fire," the union tweeted.

According to a press release by the Baltimore's firefighters union, the reduced response policy had serious consequences for at least one call Sunday. The department responded to a call of a person trapped in a burning building with less than two engines and one less truck and battalion chief.

“This dangerous practice resulted in 17 firefighters on the initial response rather than 30, which was the previous standard,” the release stated.

At the scene, firefighters discovered the trapped person, but didn't have the proper staffing and equipment because of the new policy, the union said. The person was rescued from the building but was seriously injured, the union added.

“This (union) has opposed this policy vehemently since its inception," the union stated in the release. "We will continue to advocate for our residents and members to ensure the safety of everyone is maintained. We hope that the Fire Department Administration will see that despite less than 24 hours into this new policy in effect, it has already demonstrated that this new policy is a dangerous practice and needs to stop now,”