Fire department forced to cut costs
6:16 p.m. Friday, March 21, 2008
Fire service in Topeka was reduced today; the city couldn’t afford to pay firefighters overtime.
A fire truck engine was ordered out of operation. Because of budget cuts the city council made last year, Fire Chief Howard Giles said he didn’t have another option.
When too many firefighters are sick or off on the same day, Giles said there’s not enough overtime money to call off-duty firefighters back to work.
“For me to say there will be no impact, I can’t do that,” Giles said. “There will be an impact. We don’t know where and we don’t know how big of an impact.”
For example, if a firefighter were to happen at Hallmark Cards ,just across from the engine station, 318 SE Jefferson, an engine wouldn’t be able to respond right away. It could take up to four minutes.
Some firefighters said it leaves too many lives at risk. In keeping with a common theme, Kent Dederick, president of the firefighters’ union, is upset with the chief’s decision.
“If the administration, namely Howard Giles, didn’t want to do his pet projects and things like that, we could make our budget go a lot further,” Dederick said.
“There will be disagreements within hundreds of people, as to how money should be spent, yet there’s always a decision that has to be made,” said Giles. “With the fire department, I’m the one that has to make that final decision.”
Giles said he sees the temporary shut down of a fire truck or two as the best solution. And if the council keeps trimming his budget, Giles said it could happen even more.
The engine company hasn’t been shut down permanently. It will only happen when the fire department is over-budget and too many people have the day off.
Engine coverage in downtown Topeka overlaps, because several fire stations are close together. That’s how Giles said he determined which engine company to eliminate on an occasional basis.
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Comments
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Mar. 22, 2008 at 6:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)melonguy (anonymous)
I've got an idea. If we don't have enough money in the city budget and have to cut some things from the fire department, let's buy a helicopter. Maybe there is a way we could use it to blow out fires.
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