Boardman fire chief ordered to reopen 2 stations

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Boardman fire chief ordered to reopen 2 stations
Story by Rick Rouan in the Youngstown Vindicator on 1/6/2010.

Union officials say the department does not have enough firefighters to safely staff all three stations.

BOARDMAN — Today marks the reopening of two satellite fire stations that the township closed in September because of money woes.

Township trustees on Tuesday ordered that the fire department reopen the South Avenue and Shields Road at Lockwood Boulevard stations, which were closed on a rotating basis. But union officials are not convinced that the department has enough firefighters to safely staff all three stations.

The department has 32 firefighters working two 11-man shifts and one 10-man shift, Fire Chief James Dorman said. When all firefighters are available for their shift, each satellite station has three firefighters, and the remainder work at the main station.

To keep all three stations open required all 10 firefighters on duty, Dorman has said. Now, however, trustees ordered that only the contractual minimum of eight be on duty to keep all three stations open.

With only eight firefighters on duty, the two satellite stations would be reduced to two firefighters on duty, Dorman said.

“My choice had been to staff a truck with three firefighters, and the trustees have directed me to staff it with two firefighters,” Dorman said.

Having only two men on duty at a satellite station is a safety hazard for firefighters, said Harry Wolfe, president of the International Association of Professional Firefighters Local 1176, which represents Boardman’s firefighters.

“It’s unsafe. Two men can’t fight a fire,” Wolfe said. “You wouldn’t run any business inefficiently. Running a two-man truck is inefficient.”

Nationally accepted standards dictate that at least four firefighters man each truck, Dorman said.

In the past, the department would use overtime to keep 10 firefighters on each shift. But the trustees ordered that overtime not be used to exceed the eight-firefighter minimum from now on, according to a memo dated Jan. 4 to Dorman from Jason Loree, township administrator.

Last year, the department budgeted for $180,000 in overtime, Dorman said, but by mid-December it had spent more than $260,000.

Dorman attributed the increased overtime spending to the department’s losing two firefighters, one who died of a heart attack and another who left for another job; and extended injury leave for two others.

The department also has three firefighters laid off, Dorman said.

One of those firefighters implored trustees at a meeting Monday night to bring back to work himself and two others.

“I would love to be back on board here,” said Mark Pitzer, a laid-off firefighter.

The township faces tough decisions as it spends the next several weeks finalizing its 2010 budget.

Monday night, William Leicht, the township’s fiscal officer, said that the township needs to control costs, including overtime expenditures.

“We can’t just arbitrarily spend overtime dollars,” he said.

Township trustees did not return calls seeking comment late Tuesday.

rrouan@vindy.com

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Reopening of Boardman stations sparks debate
Story by Elise Franco from the Youngstown Vindicator on 1/12/2010.

Some residents disagree on how many firefighters should ride on a firetruck.

BOARDMAN — The reopening of two satellite fire stations in the township prompted spirited debate among some residents at Monday’s township-trustee meeting.

Though several folks were glad the stations on South Avenue and Shields Road at Lockwood Boulevard will now be staffed full time, they did voice concerns about a lack of manpower.

During the public-comment portion of Monday’s meeting, Fred Hoover of Centervale Avenue said he thinks it’s unsafe to run a firetruck with only two men on board, which is what is likely to happen at each of the satellite stations that reopened last week.

“The [previous] board passed a levy with the promise that laid-off firefighters and police officers would return to duty, but they failed to do so,” he said.

Township Administrator Jason Loree previously said the minimum number of firefighters on duty per shift is eight, putting four at the main station and two at each of the satellite stations. Loree said this is a stipulation in the firefighters’ union contract.

Hoover said he thinks putting only two firefighters on a truck is a disservice to the township. He used a Friday evening fire at a residence on Southwestern Run as an example. Boardman Fire Department called on Western Reserve Joint Fire District and Beaver Fire Department for assistance.

“Mutual-aid in this situation is not like mutual-aid in police operations,” Hoover said. He said the time lost getting the firefighters into their gear, onto the trucks and to the scene is valuable and could be avoided if all three Boardman stations were properly staffed.

Steven Hierro, a retired Boardman firefighter, said when he first joined the department in 1965 each truck was staffed with one person. He said that was not enough back then, and two per truck is not enough now.

“Three men on a truck is the bare-minimum,” Hierro said. “The fire department is like insurance. You’ve got it, but you hope you never have to use it.”

Hierro said the department struggled for years to have two men on the trucks at the outlying stations.

“When these guys started going with three per truck out here it was great,” he said. “That way you’ve got two inside and one outside on the pump.”

Not everyone was in favor reopening the satellite stations, however, and felt the trucks should carry even fewer firefighters.

Edward Derose, of Amberwood Trail, said he doesn’t think there’s a need for three fire stations to be open in a community going through financial struggles.

“We need more police, not more fire[fighters],” he said. “We don’t even need that many people on those engines.”

Derose said the township should rehire the laid-off firefighters as policemen instead.

“Make policemen out of them,” he said. “That’s where they belong. We have to stop the crime.”

Hierro, visibly upset with Derose’s statements said it’s difficult and dangerous for one firefighter to attempt a rescue on his own.

“It’s hell when you pull up to a fire and you don’t know what to do with only one man there.

That’s why we have three men on a truck, and to send a truck out with less is ridiculous.”

efranco@vindy.com