Fire Department seeks way to cut $7.5M

Monday, November 22, 2010
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City fire officials are trying to find a way to cut $7.5 million from a department that has already lost more than 100 members to retirement in just over a year.

According to Fire Chief Darren Rivers, a budget reduction of this magnitude will mean no overtime to fill vacancies and could mean additional companies being closed on a rotating basis.

And closing more companies will lead to property loss, slower response times, and perhaps, the loss of life, Rivers said.

When a man ran back into the burning building at 131 Clendenny Ave. on Nov. 12, the closest fire company was closed, Rivers said.

"We've already lost a citizen. Do we have to lose more to show people this (further cuts) is a bad idea?" Rivers asked.

Fire Director Armando Roman is not convinced the proposed cut will result in layoffs and said the department is doing its best with the resources it's been given to "provide the protection necessary to prevent loss of life and extended property loss."

"These are unprecedented tough, financial times for the country, not just Jersey City ... Newark is laying off firefighters," Roman added. "We have all been asked to do more with less."

About the Clendenny man who perished, Roman emphasized that firefighters reached the scene of the two-alarm blaze in three minutes.

Every department is being asked to cut back to help close an $80 million budget deficit by January, including the police department, which is facing an $8 million cut and potential layoffs, Roman added.

The department's overall budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30 was $66.3 million. Some $4 million was spent on overtime in the last fiscal year, and since July 1, the department has expended $2.7 million in overtime costs, officials said.

Much of the overtime was spent filling in the deputy chief's rank, which has shrunk through attrition from 12 deputy chiefs to one, officials said.

Roman said he's working to reduce the department's overtime costs.

Traditionally, 24 of the city's 26 fire companies have operated on a daily basis. Since January, only 22 companies have been in operation, with rolling closures taking place across the city.

The firefighters' union, International Association of Firefighters Local 1066, commissioned a risk analysis study in September, which found there was no fire prevention inspection program, no chief of training, no training center and apparatus are not being serviced properly. It said "risks have reached crisis status."

Every city worker except those in the police and fire departments will have been furloughed for 12 days by next May. Police and fire are exempt by state law.