History

In response to the deficit the city faced during 2006, every department in the city was required to make concessions. The fire department was asked produce annual savings of $1.1 for FY'06 & FY'07. The budget instructions delivered to the fire department called for the permanent closure of an entire fire company and the elimination of eleven firefighters.

This proposal, which was extremely unpopular with Berkeley's citizens and firefighters, was countered (by Fire Chief Debra Pryor) with a proposal to temporarily close fire engines on a rotating basis (Flexible Deployment). Under this plan, savings are achieved by a significant reduction of the department's overtime budget without permanently eliminating a fire company. The proposal initially allowed for the closure of up to two fire engines per day. After Berkeley's citizens voiced significant disapproval, Council allowed an amendment to the closure plan that reduced the maximum number to one fire engine per day. Four of Berkeley's seven fire stations, house a single fire engine. Under the plan in place, the closure of any one of these four fire engines requires their respective station to also be closed (unstaffed and unable to provide response).

In June 2006 (FY'07), just prior to the beginning of fire season in California, the firefighters association and fire administration worked with the Mayor & the City Council to find a solution that would ensure no station closures through what was projected to be a critical fire season on the West Coast. The Council voted to allocate sufficient funding ($600K) to keep all of Berkeley's fire stations staffed 24/7/365 from June 2006 through mid-December 2006.

In the 45 days that rotating closures have been reinstituted, the Berkeley fire department has:

1. Responded to over 1600 calls (approx. 35/day),
2. 15 of which were structure fires, and
3. Resulted in approximately $1,400,000 in property damage.

Why does overtime occur in a Fire Department?

Overtime is used to fill vacancies that are caused by vacation, sick, jury duty, and injury leaves. In order to keep all Berkeley fire companies (engines, trucks, and paramedic units) staffed, the department requires 34 firefighters to be on duty on any given day. Some of these personnel requirements have been mandated by OSHA and others are derived from data collected after firefighter and/or civilian fire fatalities.

Rolling the dice

Closing engine companies and fire stations, even if on a rotating basis, creates many problems both inside the department and citywide, some of them are:

1. Increased response times for first arriving crews when you activate 911.
2. Increased time for adequate numbers of emergency responders to arrive on the scene in order to perform in a safe and effective manner
3. Decreased availability of emergency responders to be utilized when the next big disaster hits this area. This makes little sense, as the fire department is the backbone of Berkeley's disaster emergency response plan.
4. Closed and locked doors at your neighborhood fire station, which serves as a resource for citizens and even as a "Safe Surrender Site" for abandoned babies.
5. Significant negative effects on the morale of department personnel.
6. Seen as career instability by the candidate pool, which could potentially provide a lower caliber of firefighter/paramedic recruit in the testing process.

Conclusion

We firefighters, as a group, love our job and the city we serve. This issue is important to us because of our desire to be able to provide Berkeley's citizens with the safest, most effective response possible. We believe that citizens in this community value the vast array of services and programs this city is able to offer. But, if asked to prioritize, would place maintaining top rated fire and emergency medical response capabilities as several, if not their highest, and most valued services.

It is understood that maintaining a fire department is not cheap, in fact costs associated with maintaining the Berkeley fire department have increased $4.9 million in the last 4 years due to increasing personnel costs, significant effects the poor economy had on the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS), and skyrocketing medical premiums.

But the costs (both financial and emotional) incurred by residents if we don't arrive on scene of an emergency quickly - with properly trained and adequate personnel - greatly outweigh this upfront investment.

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