From Firehouse.com: Wright-Patterson firefighters could end emergency runs to local communities because of reduced manpower if furloughs of civilian base employees hit, a firefighter union leader says.
Mandatory unpaid time off the job would mean a two-person emergency central dispatch would be reduced to one staffer, and firefighters could not support a hazardous materials team at the base, said Roy Colbrunn, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local F-88.
The base has 75 civilian firefighters who answer calls, a reduction of about 25 percent from a few years ago, he said.
Wright-Patterson spokesman Daryl Mayer said while safety will remain a "top priority" civilian worker furloughs "have always been regarded as a last resort because of their adverse effects."
The base has about 13,000 civilian employees who face anticipated 14-day unpaid furloughs or time off beginning in June because of budget cuts. The Pentagon must reduce spending by $41 billion through the end of September. The firefighters work 48 hours shifts, so the reductions would hit overtime pay, Colbrunn said.
The number of Wright-Patter-son firefighters on a shift would drop to 14 from about 23 today, he said.
The sprawling base, which has multiple airfields and hundreds of buildings, has three fire stations.
A loss of mutual aid out of Wright-Patterson could stretch resources in neighboring communities, according to local fire chiefs. Last year, the Air Force base's fire department responded to 1,060 calls on the installation and rolled outside the gates to answer calls off base 131 times, according to base figures.
"Any department that neighbors up to Wright-Patt, it will affect them considerably," said Huber Heights Fire Chief Mark S. Ashworth. "They're a great resource for us and that's not good news."
If Wright-Patterson firefighters aren't available, another fire department will be asked to step in, fire chiefs said.
"I think anytime you pull resources from further away that does impact overall safety," said Fairborn Fire Chief Michael G. Riley. http://www.firehouse.com/news/10916124/mutual-aid-may-be-out-for-ohio-air-base-firefighters
But in the meantime, Obama is out golfing, the family is globetrotting on vacations, Biden is spending $500,000 a night in a hotel room and so much more waste.
Impeach the bastards.
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