Fire officials at the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue (NHRFR), which covers Weehawken, West New York, Guttenberg, Union City and North Bergen, are sweating from the heat caused by a proposal to shut down some of the firehouses over the summer to save money on overtime and sick pay.
There are 14 firehouses and 18 companies in the towns that the NHRFR commands.
The proposal, which came from NHRFR upper management, is deemed a “last resort.” It would rotate firehouse closures in the cities covered by the NHRFR to help alleviate an estimated $500,000 burden in extra overtime and sick pay during the summer months, officials said.
That estimate is double the funds allocated during the rest of the year for overtime and sick pay in the $30 million annual budget, according to officials. The reason the amount goes up during the summer is because many firefighters are off for vacation, so when additional employees call out sick, the shifts are usually covered by staff working overtime.
“There are no definitive plans to close the firehouses yet,” said NHRFR Co-Executive Director Jeff Welz. “It is one of several proposals to try and save taxpayers money. The estimated cost [of the summer overtime and sick pay] this budget year, based on initial projections and last year’s cost, is going to be $1 million, which is double what we budgeted.”
The amount budgeted was $500,000.
He added, “It will not impact the response or safety [of the towns], but it will save money over time.”
Welz stressed that a normal shift for a North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue firefighter is 24 hours. When a firefighter is out sick or on vacation, the replacement firefighter gets overtime pay for anything over their regular shift.
“If we overspend,” says Welz, “we have to make it up in the next budget and then the next budget needs an increase. Overtime cannot be a blank check; it has to stop somewhere.”
As a long-term plan, the squad intends to replace uniformed firefighters in the headquarters with civilians, officials said. Welz said that by having civilians doing office jobs, it would raise the amount of trained firefighters on the street, which would cut down on overtime costs. Additionally, civilians would be paid approximately half the amount that a firefighter would in the same administrative position, said Welz. “Two uniformed personnel were just put back out on the line,” said Welz.
Towns unhappy
The possibility of closing firehouses in some of these towns is making the towns a bit weary.
Mayor of West New York Silverio “Sal” Vega expects that if the proposal is being heavily considered, he would need to review it himself.
“I am completely against closing any firehouses,” says Vega. “They would have to explain the economics of this to me.”
Vega continued, “How would [closing firehouses] make the town of West New York safer? No one has approached me [about closing down firehouses] but I know they have a proposal. I do not want any firehouses closed.”
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner said, “There’s no consensus or agreement to the firehouses. Nothing can be done until all the mayors agree. Until this time, we do not have a definite plan yet.”
Turner stressed the summer months normally have the highest amount of sick calls that coincide with firefighters already on vacation.
Not an issue of safety
Welz emphasized the rotating firehouse closures would not affect the available manpower and response time of the NHRFR because many of the firehouses are clustered closely together.
“Any house to get closed will have another firehouse within a couple of city blocks away,” says Welz. “By closing one house, we still have one or two in that area, since these houses are placed closely together. We will still respond with the same amount of men and equipment to a reported fire. This will not affect the towns.”
Welz says this is in the best interest for everyone and it will help quell the problem that may arise if nothing is done about the overtime and sick pay.
This is only one proposal to help with rising costs. Until the mayors of the towns and the firefighters union agree, there will not be any firehouse closings. There is no set date for possible closings, but officials hope to resolve the issue as soon as possible, said Welz.
“The North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue has a history of providing the highest level of safety and would not do anything to jeopardize that,” said Welz. “We are looking out for the best interest of both the taxpayer and public safety.”
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