ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The city responded Thursday to concerns raised about cuts to firefighting services expected in the city’s 2021 budget.
On Wednesday, the union representing city firefighters called the cuts “reckless,” but St. John’s Regional Fire Department (SJRFD) Chief Sherry Colford disagreed.
“Any time you move away from status quo, there’s a little bit of uncertainty of what that’s going to look like. It certainly wasn’t reckless. We’ve been working on this throughout the budget review now for a number of months. … This certainly wasn’t off the cuff.”
The change expected at the SJRFD, pending city council's approval of the budget on Dec. 7, is a decrease in staffing minimums from 39 to 37 firefighters per day, spread out over eight stations.
There are 44 people scheduled each day, but due to various kinds of leave, there may be fewer actually working. That number can currently go down to 39 before they call someone in to cover a shift. With this change, it can go down to 37.
To accommodate that, one of the city’s two ladder trucks won’t be manned on days when staffing goes below 38.
Mayor Danny Breen said the decision was made to address a spiking overtime budget for the SJRFD, which is now at about $1.2 million and rising — a number that has doubled in the past four years.
Colford said 90 per cent of the time they have to call people in because they’re below the 39 complement.
“We welcome the association to come to the table with us, and we’ll look at other options and other solutions that will allow us to bring down the spiking overtime costs that we’re experiencing. So, we certainly welcome them to bring forward options,” she said.
In October, firefighter recruitment was suspended. It was announced at that time that the postponement would be re-evaluated in the new year, but Colford said Thursday recruitment will soon be back on.
As to how serious it might be to have just one ladder truck in operation, Colford said there are about eight incidents per year in which both ladders are called out at the same time.
She said the SJRFD is looking at a contingency plan to ensure there’s not a situation where two ladders are needed but only one is manned. For example, she said they could use existing staff to man the ladder truck and then call in two more firefighters.
“This is no different than how we run our water tanker. We don’t man our water tanker, but we use existing staff to use the water tanker at an incident when it’s needed,” she said.
“We’re looking at an opportunity to repurpose that building for public use, and that decision should be announced shortly into 2021. … I think it’s something that the city is going to find pretty exciting.”
It costs about $35 million to run the SJRFD annually, with 72 per cent of the funds coming from the City of St. John’s, and the rest from other municipalities serviced by the SJRFD.
Colford couldn’t give an exact dollar amount that might be saved with this change, except that it’s expected to curb overtime costs.
Breen said these proposed changes, as well as the controversial move to a summer schedule at Metrobus, are not final.
“We haven’t finalized the budget yet. … There’s always issues that are going back and forth and around, so I wouldn’t prejudge anything based on that.”
‘Exciting’ museum replacement
On Thursday, Breen also said the city decided it will close the Railway Coastal Museum on Water Street.
“We’re looking at an opportunity to repurpose that building for public use, and that decision should be announced shortly into 2021. … I think it’s something that the city is going to find pretty exciting.”
Breen was otherwise mum on details, but reliable sources told The Telegram that Genesis Coworking, currently located on Harvey Road, will move into the building.
Meanwhile, the museum remains open.
Juanita Mercer reports on municipal politics in St. John's.
