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22nd of June Press Release
City of Alameda Threatens More Cuts to Fire and Emergency Services!
The City of Alameda has informed the Alameda Firefighters Association that the City intends to further reduce the level of service to the community. These reductions will compromise the safety and security of residents, businesses and visitors to the City of Alameda.
According to the city, service levels could be reduced to just 21 Firefighters on duty daily and only four Fire Engines, one Fire Truck, and three Ambulances. This is a significant reduction from the historic level of 27 firefighters on duty daily and five Fire Engines, two Fire Trucks and three Ambulances.
The City of Alameda can tolerate NO cuts to street level Fire and Emergency services. Since the beginning of "Brownouts" on January 26, 2009, hundreds of calls have been impacted, and without intervention, that number is likely to double. A number of recent incidents have already caused the City to modify its original plan of "Brownouts" because they did not work.
Details of the city’s new cuts include the continued closure of Station 5 and Engine 5, and the "browning out" of Truck 1. Station 5 and Engine 5 are first responders for Alameda Point and the Coast Guard housing and may be called on to provide personnel and equipment throughout the city.
Truck 1, stationed at Park St. and Encinal Ave., provides the first response for an aerial ladder, tools, rescue equipment and personnel to Central Alameda, the East End of town and to Bay Farm. With Truck 1 out of service, residents and businesses in those areas can expect long delays for a Fire Truck to arrive in an emergency.
Just yesterday, Alameda was with out any available Fire and Emergency response units for over 15 minutes with all companies busy on responses. An AMR ambulance had to come from Hayward to transport a patient, as well as an ambulance from Albany FD.
On Wednesday afternoon June 17, 2009, with all but one AFD companies busy with a house fire, a medical call for a cardiac problem received a response with only an AFD Ambulance handling the call.
The firefighters are committed to the safety of the community and for their safety on the job, and have taken a vote of "No Confidence" in Fire Chief Dave Kapler and have asked for his immediate resignation.
15 JUNE 2009 Press Release!
Two Alameda firefighters were injured last night while responding to a house fire in a single family residence. One suffered 2nd degree burns to his back, flank and stomach. He was initially transported by AMR to Alameda Hospital for treatment, and received additional treatment at the Burn Center of St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco. The second firefighter was treated and released from Alameda Hospital with 2nd degree burns to the palms of his hands. Both firefighters were wearing their department issued protective equipment.
At approximately 6:28pm on Sunday 14 JUNE 2009, City of Alameda Firefighters were called to a report of a structure fire at 110 Inverness Way, on Bay Farm Island. At the time of the call, all three of the ALS Ambulances staffed with two firefighters on each of them were busy transporting patients to off island hospitals from unrelated EMS calls. At the time of the initial response there were only four remaining units in service in Alameda with three firefighters on each of them. The lack of resources to complete a simple first alarm and the subsequent delayed actions allowed the fire to intensify and hazardous conditions to exponentially increase. That translates to a more dangerous threat to life and health and increased property damage.
With the recent implementation of station and Fire Engine closures, response times have already decayed to a level worse than originally anticipated by the Fire Chief. The injuries to these firefighters are directly related to the inadequate resources available for emergency response, lack of training, outdated policies and organizational neglect by the City of Alameda and Fire Department Management.
There are additional cost saving measures being unilaterally implemented by the City of Alameda. Current experience of the above noted fire as well as that surrounding the FISC fire in March of 2009 have proven that with the imposed cuts and reduction to Fire Department staffing, resources cannot handle the average daily response load.
The firefighters know the impacts of the existing and proposed closures and are trying to educate the community on just where that risk lies. It is very simple; it will end up ON THOSE EXPERIENCING AN EMERGENCY AND THOSE WHO ARE RESPONDING TO HELP THEM. In addition to the injured firefighters, 2 pets were killed and the property loss is still being calculated. There was a re-kindle to the fire early Monday morning.
, two firefighters were laid off and three others were demoted from the City of Alameda Fire Department, and Fire Station 5 was permanently closed. This comes as the result of further reductions to Fire and Emergency Services in a cost saving measure that was implemented by Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant. These layoffs will be the result of a 20% decrease in staffing allocations since last year. Overall, 19 positions have been eliminated and due to the decreased level of service, so will some filled positions. All of these cuts have been made under the umbrella of the City Budget, and the community has not had the chance to comment directly on their service levels for Fire and EMS.
Ms. Gallant has turned a blind eye to historical data and recommendations from three reports from consultants that date back to 1988, including a report completed by the former State Fire Marshal in 2004. Instead, she bases her decisions on a radical and unsubstantiated report from the ICMA, who by their own admission has done only one other consulting report on Fire Services in the State of California.
Effective June 1, 2009 Fire Station 5 (Alameda Point) will be closed. Minimum staffing will fall below 24 firefighters on duty a day, without a clear answer of how much below. In addition to the Fire Station closure, additional units will likely be “browned out”, or closed in a proposal similar to the original “Brownouts” that were implemented on January 26, 2009. Now, with one less Fire Engine, another Ambulance or Fire Truck may be closed on a day to day basis.
10 percent of responses since “Brownouts” were implemented have received delayed responses. Included in those calls were a cardiac arrest, difficulty breathing, traumatic injuries, broken pipes, fire sprinkler activations, and fire calls, (including the FISC fire). All of which could have received a more positive outcome had care and response been delivered sooner.
Yesterday, the firefighters and proponents of their Fire and Emergency Medical Services Minimum Protection initiative turned in over 9000 signatures to qualify the measure to be presented to the voters. The City Clerk has turned the signatures over to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters for validation.
The firefighters have offered solutions, concessions and wage freezes in an effort to stave off the layoffs and reductions in service. Some that add up to nearly a million dollars of savings. The City has communicated that they are not interested in pursuing those at this time.
6th of MAY, 2009 Press Release
Alameda Firefighters have been working diligently to provide accurate information to the Citizens and Business owners in the City of Alameda regarding the City’s unilateral action of implementing "Brownouts" since 26 JAN 2009.
The level of service was reduced from 27 firefighters on duty daily to 24, and essentially closed a fire engine and fire station. With the release of the "cut list" today, the City intends to further reduce the level of service in Alameda by reducing staffing from 24 firefighters on duty a day to 22 or 21 by closing another emergency response apparatus and laying off 3 firefighters.
A reduction that severe represents a 23% decrease in Fire and Emergency services at a time when demands for service are at an all time high. This further reduction in level of service will be implemented without the opportunity for public comment, with no end in sight.
With the implementation of the closures, response times have already decayed to a level worse than originally anticipated by the Fire Chief. The additional measures being implemented will likely prove catastrophic as it is only a matter of time before resources cannot handle the average daily response load.
The firefighters know the impacts of the existing and proposed closures and are trying to educate the community on just where that risk is going to end up. It is very simple; it will end up ON THOSE EXPERIENCING AN EMERGENCY AND THOSE WHO ARE RESPONDING TO HELP THEM.
The firefighters have offered solutions, which include no raises, controlling costs, and re-organization of departmental functions that would further limit future City liability WITHOUT IMPACTING THE DAILY DELIVERY OF EMERGENCY SERVICE.
Unfortunately the solutions offered are not enough.
The cuts are to be implemented on 1 JUN 2009. The firefighters will continue to meet with City Staff to keep serving the community; however, all must be aware that the fire and emergency resources are spread thinner than they have been in nearly 133 years. |
