Fire Union launches citywide campaign

Sep. 21--PLATTSBURGH -- The city fire union says they need more fighters and want to prove it.

Plattsburgh Professional Firefighters Local 2421 Vice President Jamie Schwartz addressed the City of Plattsburgh Common Council Thursday night and suggested a safety study to do just that.

Schwartz said the union was ready to foot half the bill, should a third party be selected for the study.

"Our International Association of Firefighters will do one for us for free, but if we bring forth information from that, it's going to look biased," Schwartz told The Press-Republican. "If the city picks a company, then, to us, that's going to look biased.

"I want to work on something where it doesn't look biased and we can just get down to the facts and know the numbers of firefighters that we're supposed to have," he continued, adding that the study could cost around $10,000.

"Whatever is half of the charges that are accrued, we're willing to pay it."

MANNING CLAUSE

In early July, the city was successful in an appeal that, essentially, dismissed the fire union's manning clause, or the section of the city-union contract that had outlined minimum staffing levels.

According to the appellate court's decision, that clause had vague language and focused on job security -- making it unenforceable via arbitration.

It was in the fire union's opinion that the clause's real focus had been safety and, as such, should have held up.

After hearing the court decision, Union President Douglas Walker worried the team of 33 firefighters wouldn't be restaffed up to the former 36-man minimum.

"The manning clause, the 36 men -- it's for safety," Walker had said. "Safety for the firefighters and safety for the public."

CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

In recent weeks, some 100 lawn signs popped up throughout the City of Plattsburgh displaying the message: Take A Stand On Safety.

Schwartz said those union signs featured a web link to lead viewers to an online page in support of the initiative.

"This campaign started to try to bring some public knowledge about safety being in jeopardy," Schwartz said. "Our union feels that our numbers are way below what they should be."

The National Fire Protection Association sets those standards, Schwartz said.

"It varies on different types of fire calls," he said, "but we're probably at half of what the national standards are for what we have available to respond to emergencies."

THE NUMBERS

The City of Plattsburgh Fire Department has a six-person minimum and, according to the union, it's not enough.

"Firefighters are mandated to operate in at least one pair," the Take A Stand On Safety website says. "No firefighter is allowed to perform a task inside a building alone.

"(Occupational Safety and Health Administration) states that there must be two firefighters outside ready for rescue any time there are two firefighters inside a fire building."

And, Schwartz told the council Thursday, the department had responded to 2,250 emergency medical service calls in the city so far this year.

"That is 2,250 times two firefighters were not available if a fire broke out," he said. "With the ever-increasing EMS-call volume and fire-call volume, we have to have more firefighters than two to four firefighters available for fire-rescue response."

It was for that reason that Schwartz hoped the Common Council would agree to the unbiased, third-party safety study.

HIGH RATING

But it was under the six-person minimum that, Mayor Colin Read said, the city's Fire Department had successfully fought fires for decades.

"And for that I most grateful," he added.

The city mayor also pointed to the results of a 2017 Insurance Services Office study, where the city scored the highest in the region.

That study, which had examined the department's quality of staffing, would be used by insurers when determining fire insurance rates.

SAFETY & VALUE

Regardless, Read said he did have some ideas to up the department's minimum daily staffing level, while not burdening taxpayers

"We all share the desire for fire safety, and I've consistently advocated for that," Read said. "And we've had rules in the past that have required firefighters to live in the city or maintain a volunteer Rescue Hose Five to assist our paid firefighters.

"These ideas all promote fire safety," he continued. "I know we can improve fire safety while we also enhance taxpayer value.

"I will keep putting these ideas out there, and hope we can work together to really enhance both safety and value."

Email McKenzie Delisle:

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Twitter: @McKenzieDelisle

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