by BILL MURPHY AND BRYAN VIRASAMI
The Fire Department adjusted its staffing pattern across the city yesterday as it reduced the number of firefighters on 49 of its 197 engine companies.
The move, in response to an increase in the absence rate of firefighters, leaves 11 engine companies with five firefighters and an officer. The rest will have four firefighters and an officer.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there would be no effect on safety and that firefighting units around the city would "cover for each other" to make up for the reduced staffing.
When a unit falls below the minimum staffing, a firefighter is brought in from another unit, or the remaining firefighters are assigned to short-handed units elsewhere.
That leads to firefighters moving to another firehouse for a shift, or working on an engine instead of a ladder on that shift.
The reduction in staffing will save $1.4 million a month in overtime and partially offset the additional overtime needed when the absence rate is high. The cuts were triggered under the union contract when the rate passed 7.5 percent on an annualized basis, as of the first of this month.
Stephen Cassidy, the president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said the staffing changes would create safety problems.
He noted that a new department order that went out yesterday would allow some ladder companies, which have five firefighters, to operate with four.
That would mean that the first ladder company on the scene would not have a person assigned to vent the heat and flames by breaking through a roof, window or door.
It would also allow an engine company to respond with an officer and as few as two firefighters, but they would not enter the fire area unless "a known life hazard is found and immediate action could prevent the loss of life."
But Cassidy said, "It seems clear to me the only concern is response time, not the safety of the public or the firefighters," Cassidy said. Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
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