Last week, I provided the fire chief’s response to claims by IAFF Local 188 that a reduction in staffing certain fire stations would have dire effects on the safety of Richmond (Dissecting the Closing of Fire Stations Issue, December 8, 2020).

The debate goes on as IAFF Local 188 disputes the chief’s evaluation, and I provide it below.

As part of a City Council that has to make the ultimate budgetary decisions, you can imagine how frustrating it is to have to parse through such contrasting views of the same facts and make the right decisions for the residents of Richmond. The one thing that really gets to me is the amount of overtime paid to so many firefighters, making their total compensation climb to nearly half a million dollars.

The amount of staffing required is locked into an MOU between the City and Local 188. It is the City’s attempt to unlock the MOU that has precipitated this debate on staffing levels.

Here are the top ten paid Richmond firefighters. If you want to see more details, visit https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2019/richmond/. The top three individuals listed below make more than the fire chief.

1. Fire Captain   $491,123
2. Fire Captain   $473,206
3. Fire Captain   $452,467
4. Fire Captain    4416,859
5. Fire Captain    $415,632
6. Fire Engineer  $410,125
7. Fire Captain    $409,876
8. Fire Captain    $408,063
9. Fire Captain    $402,281
10. Fire Captain    $401,403

Below is the IAFF Local 188 response:

Local 188 has read Mayor Butt’s email forum with his Q&A with the fire Chief and would like to respond. There are numerous misleading and false statements that need to be addressed.

First off, Local 188 is in support of lowering overtime costs. Our schedule already has us working 56 hours a week, and our members are often working 80-104hr (or more) work weeks. This is time away from our families and it takes a toll on our mental and physical health. People often think that we sleep all night, but we rarely do. We are constantly being woken up to respond to emergencies. When you are working 2, 3, 4, or 10 (or more) days in a row, with intermittent sleep, it catches up to you. Any parent will understand. Again, we are in support of lowering overtime costs, but browning out companies is not a safe way to do it. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends that staffing levels should be 1 firefighter per 1000 residents. Most cities staff over that standard. That would put us at about 110 firefighters. We are currently below 80! The city has chosen to not properly staff us to save money. It is widely recognized that it is cheaper to pay overtime costs rather than hiring more firefighters. The city has asked us to work overtime in order to save money overall. However, when the bill shows up for the overtime, they want to blame us. Local 188 would like the city to do a coverage study so that the appropriate and safe levels of staffing are met.

In regards to the questions that the Chief was asked;

Question: Will there be response time delays, and if so, how much?

The Chief was asked if there would be response time delays and skirted around the question by saying that he EXPECTS that we would still be able to meet mandated response times. Local 188 wants the public to know that the potential for delays is very real. It’s basic math. We are running the same number of calls with 2 fewer apparatus to be able to respond. There will absolutely be delays, some could be significant. We aren’t saying that it will happen on every call, but it will be noticeable and it will happen. Between 2018 and 2019 we saw in increase of about 1,823 calls in that year alone. There are numerous housing developments going into the city that will increase the populations as well as call volume. Our homeless population seems to grown every day and continues to increase our call volume. Cutting 25% of the department to handle the same (or more) number of calls will absolutely cause delays.

Question: Will RFD be delayed in responding to fires on the third floor and above?

We don’t believe that the Chief ever actually answered the question. Local 188 wants the public to know that the potential is there for serious delays from the truck. If station 64 (Carlson Blvd. and Bayview Ave.) is cross-staffed and the Engine is on another call, nobody is there to respond in the truck. It’s as simple as that. Engine 64 typically goes to homeless encampment fires on Carlson Blvd. multiple times a day. They run numerous other calls daily as well. If they are on ANY call with the Engine, nobody will be there to respond with the truck. The longest ladder an Engine carries is 24’. That’s tall enough to get to a second-floor window and access the roof (of a two-story building). It’s not tall enough to reach a third-floor window. If we pull up to a fire on the third-floor or above, with people trapped who need to be rescued out of the window, we could be unable to do so. We know the residents don’t always see what we do, but this happens. Engine 67 (S. 11th and Cutting Blvd.) recently rescued 3 people and a dog from a second-floor window. Had those people been higher, the truck would have been necessary. Additionally, station 64 (Carlson Blvd. and Bayview Ave.) houses our HAZ-MAT (hazardous materials) team. When we are called to a HAZ-MAT incident, the Engine, Truck, and HAZ-MAT rig all respond. Cross-staffing the truck is dangerous. It’s playing roulette with the residents as well as the firefighters. We didn’t even touch on how it effects our safety.

Question: Will the cuts "result in an increased number of homes and businesses being completely burned?"

The truck provides ventilation during fires that we rely on for both our safety as well as the safety of the residents. It prevents backdraft conditions and helps to remove heat and smoke to allow us to see better and to be able to safely enter the building. It also makes the environment more tenable for any victims and can give them a better chance to survive. If we don’t have a truck on scene, there will be fires that we do not go into, because it’s not safe for us. This means that we will attack the fire from the outside only, which typically will cause significantly more damage to the structure than if we are able to enter the building, push to the seat of the fire, and extinguish it quickly. Again, this won’t happen on every fire, but the potential will absolutely be there.

Question: Will residents and businesses be "significantly affected" by the proposed cuts?

Yes.
End of questions.

Local 188 has a long history of helping out the city with budget deficits. They seem to run a deficit every year with nobody to hold them accountable. We have offered different solutions that were not responded to. We have also reached out to the city to request additional meetings. We are still waiting to hear back. We would also like to thank the residents for your continued support, it means the world to us. Please feel free to reach out to Local 188 with any questions. We are here to serve the community.