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Breaking: Fire Engine Co. 38 to be disbanded for 18-24 months; Fire Commissioner to inform firefighters of city's new 'rolling brownouts' plan tonight
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Breaking: Fire Engine Co. 38 to be disbanded for 18-24 months; Fire Commissioner to inform firefighters of city's new 'rolling brownouts' plan tonight
CP received a call today from a member of Fire Engine Company 38, who said that his company had been informed late last Friday that they were to be disbanded and sent to other stations.
"That's another station closed down, and nobody knows about it," the firefighter said.
Mayor Nutter recently announced a budget rebalancing that included cuts to the Police and Fire departments' overtime costs. This is the first we've heard of any companies actually closing.The last time engine companies were closed was during the 2008-2009 budget crunch, when Mayor Nutter authorized the deactivation of 5 engine and 7 ladder companies.
And just to put things in a bit of context: the administration and the firefighters' union have been going at it and pointing fingers at each other for years now.
Company 38 is based in Tacony, but the construction of a highway off ramp caused the company's building to be closed; About a year ago, Engine 38 firemen moved into the facilities already occupied by Engine 33 Company, at Richmond & Kirkbride streets.
Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers confirmed today that Engine 38 will now be "temporarily out of service," but emphasized that the city is building a new facility, in Tacony, which will house Engine 38 Company when it's completed – in somewhere between 18 and 24 months, he thinks.
Mayor Spokesman Doug Oliver added in an email that the new station would include a "community room," and that "This is good news in light of budget challenges."
"Poor Tacony," was the first response I got from IAFF Local 22 President Billy Galt, who added that many of the firefighters' runs are medical and that "the further we are away, the longer it takes fro us to get there, and the worse it is for that patient."
The firefighter who called, meanwhile, expressed another concern – smaller, maybe, but heartfelt: the dissolution of his and his colleagues' working relationship.
"When we get off duty, we all do the same thigns together – we hang out, we play horseshoes toether, our wives know each other . . .I'm sure we'll all fit in wherever they send us," he concluded, "but in firefighting, you have a personal relationship with each other.
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