Pa. 'Brownout' Manpower Shortages Raise Concerns

Scranton's firefighters union president and a councilman both use the same term to describe the Fire Department's recent manpower shortages: Russian roulette.

The city's budget crunches have resulted in layoffs of 50 firefighters, reducing the force from 150 members prior to 2011 to the current 100, and permanent closures of three engine companies: Engine 9 covering North Scranton and parts of Green Ridge, Tripp Park, West Side, Central City and Keyser Valley; Engine 10 covering East Mountain and parts of South Side; and Engine 15 covering the Hill Section, Bunker Hill and parts of downtown.

Seven companies remain open: Engine 2 covering South Side, Minooka and East Mountain; Engine 4 covering Central City, the Hill Section, Bunker Hill, parts of South Side and Green Ridge; Engine 7 covering West Side, Keyser Valley, West Mountain, Tripp Park and Bellevue; Engine 8 covering North Scranton, parts of Green Ridge, Tripp Park, West Side, Central City and Keyser Valley; Rescue 1 responding to all alarms and specialized rescues; Truck 2 responding to all calls east of the Lackawanna River; and Truck 4 responding to all calls west of the river.

However, in recent months, there have been sporadic "brownouts," or temporary daily closures, of some of the remaining companies because of staffing shortages from sick days, vacations or holidays, officials said. For example, on Tuesday, Engines 4 and 7 and Truck 4 were closed.

Such brownouts leave the department vulnerable to delayed response times or perhaps not being able to adequately handle simultaneous large fires, though none have yet occurred, said John Judge, president of International Association of Firefighters Local 60.

"It's playing Russian roulette every day," Mr. Judge said. "It's not if, it's when something bad is going to happen."

At Thursday's city council meeting, Councilman Jack Loscombe noted brownouts will increase as vacation season comes into full swing.

"What alarms me is that over the past several weeks, over many weekends, the entire west side of the river has had no fire protection due to the lack of manpower," he said. "As I stated before, we're playing Russian roulette with the public safety cuts this administration has pulled."

Mayor Chris Doherty and Fire Chief Tom Davis said they share concerns of Mr. Judge and Mr. Loscombe, but the city is just plain broke. Mr. Doherty's proposed 29-percent tax increase was cut to 5 percent by council, which also did not restore the mayor's layoffs of 29 firefighters late last year.

"If Mr. Loscombe wanted to fund the fire department, he should have funded it. This is his budget. It had the layoffs in it," Mr. Doherty said.

Chief Davis added, "There's absolutely no money. We have to go with what the council gave us."

Mr. Judge said the problem is the fault of both council and the mayor, since the mayor laid off firefighters and council did not restore those positions.

"They need to get together and figure something out," he said. "I understand a lot of it revolves around financial stuff, but both sides need to bury the hatchet."

In recent weeks, the city applied for a federal grant seeking up to $12 million to fund the return of 50 laid-off firefighters, Chief Davis said. However, it could take months until funds are received, and it's unlikely the city would receive the total amount, Mr. Doherty said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Judge said response times are increasing because there are fewer companies covering larger areas. The department also is going to have to adapt.

"We have to change the way we operate. We may have to be on the defensive, maybe saving the houses next door instead of the house on fire," Mr. Judge said.

Chief Davis said that if there are simultaneous fires or one rages out of control, "We'll call in more men (on overtime) so we'll always be covered. That's what we'll have to do. There's nothing I want more than to bring every single fireman back to work, but there's no money. What we're trying to do is survive on what we have."

Chief Davis recalled that when he started as a city fireman in 1969, there were 256 firefighters, 15 engine companies, three ladder truck companies and two ambulance services. Today, cities throughout the state are grappling with tight budgets and firefighter shortages, he said.

Copyright 2012 - The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service