Newport News fire academy, part 11: Fire department stretches budget, makes it work

June 21--Editor's note: Reporter Sarah J. Ketchum participated in an academy hosted by the Newport News Fire Department and is writing about her experience.

NEWPORT NEWS -- Have you heard of the TV show "American Pickers?" Two guys go around searching through junkyards, basements and garages to find other people's trash they can turn into treasure.

Newport News Fire Department Lt. Chris Blake is thinking of starting his own show: "Newport News Beggars." That was a joke he told the citizens' academy during a presentation about the department's technical rescue team. He wanted to emphasize just the lengths he'll go to get free stuff. For example, a prop they use for confined spaces training is a refurbished Newport News Waterworks tank. The prop would have easily cost $10,000 to buy, he said.

Anything he thinks they can use, he'll ask for, even down to the old floor mats from the city's department of Vehicle and Equipment Services.

"I'm not picky about how I ask for anything," he said.

Blake's tactics are somewhat unconventional. Firefighters are proud. They don't like to ask for help. In the words of Capt. Wesley Rogers: "If you give us one ax, we'll try to put it on every truck."

But like other city departments, the fire service wasn't immune to the effects of the recession. Costs have gone up, while the budget has budged little. Officials said they have made cuts to administrative and public education staff, but they haven't taken a single firefighter medic off the streets.

One thing I learned in the academy is that the fire service requires lots of tools, supplies, and specialized training. One EMS training mannequin, for example, costs about $30,000. They bought that with money from a grant, which is how they buy a lot of things. Funding for fire trucks and buildings comes out of the city's capital budget.

The department does bill for ambulance services, but that money goes back to the city and not directly to the fire department.

Most of the money they get from the city's operating budget pays employee salaries and benefits with the rest going toward utilities, supplies, and other items, such as training, officials said.

One specialized training for the technical team costs about $3,000 per person, according to Blake. They currently have five people in that course. The team's annual budget for everything -- tools, helmets, harnesses, rope, etc. -- is $16,000, he said.

In years past, grants have helped them buy a lot of equipment and supplies, but those are getting more competitive, officials said. So, they've had to learn to be more efficient elsewhere.

Despite the challenges, they said they're proud of the improvements they've made.

The department recently received a Class 1 Public Protection Classification rating by the Insurance Service Office. That's a pretty big deal. Only 97 departments of nearly 49,000 in the country have that rating. They were rated Class 2 in 2009.

But officials said there is still more they want to do, especially with public education. So that's why even though there was no budget for the citizens' academy, they made it work. The hope is that graduates of the academy will share what they learned with others. It's one way they're learning to ask for help.

Daily Press archives were used in this story. Ketchum can be reached by phone at 757-247-7478.

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