Jun 24, 2009 10:15 pm US/Pacific
90 More Seconds: Fire Response Times To Rise
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
The fight over the Sacramento City Council's decision to lay off city firefighters next week has just begun, but if the cuts go through, emergency response times are expected to take a significant hit.
Four city stations are preparing to lose trucks – and 50 firefighters' jobs – starting on July 4, one of their busiest weekends of the year. The affected stations will lose half their staffing levels.
"Whenever you close companies, whenever you reduce personnel you are going to impact your service level," said Chief Ray Jones.
Chief Jones had the difficult task of deciding what to cut, and in the process added something nobody wants: longer waits during an emergency.
The average response time right now for fire calls is five and a half minutes. Starting on the holiday weekend, it will go up to seven minutes, a 90 second delay.
Are people in the city going to be less safe nine days from today?
"That's one way to look at it, however, what I will say is people will still be safe," Chief Jones said.
Phil Wooley, who lives next door to Station 17 -- one of the affected stations -- says it's nice to live next door to the fire department, but says it's "scary" to learn that service will soon be chopped in half.
"Police and fire… if you don't have them, this whole thing is going to go up in smoke," Wooley said.
Firefighters announced Wednesday that they are planning to take on the city over allegations of union domination and interference, saying that negotiations weren't conducted in good faith.
Earlier this month, the firefighters union rejected a proposal that would have frozen salaries in exchange for protecting jobs.
In addition to the 50 firefighter jobs being cut, 18 other jobs with the fire department will be terminated.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Car Slams Into Home Overnight
More Local News
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments