Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 27, 1993 TAG: 9303270239
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ed Crawford called on officials Friday to release the report, which recommends an 18 percent increase in firefighters.
"They are trying to bury the report. They won't release it," Crawford said.
Crawford claimed that city officials intended to use the study to justify reducing manpower,
"But the study came out saying we need more manpower. So now they want to hide it."
George Snead, director of public safety, said, "It's not an issue of whether we like or dislike what it says. It's a matter of analyzing a complicated issue and determining whether the data we have is accurate."
City officials said they don't have to release the report because it is an unfinished working document that is exempt from the state's Freedom of Information Act.
Sources in the Fire Department have said the study proposes hiring 46 additional firefighters so the city can fully staff all fire engines and ladder trucks on all calls.
The report also proposes that the city close one station and relocate three others to help improve fire protection and provide faster response times.
Those are the main conclusions of the computer analysis of the location of the city's 14 fire stations and the staffing needs of the department, sources said.
The analysis was conducted by a committee that included Fire Department employees and other city workers.
Snead has refused to confirm the findings. It's too early to say whether city officials will make any recommendations on closing or relocating stations, he said.
"It is not being released now because it is not complete," he said. He wouldn't estimate a completion date.
Mayor David Bowers said Friday that he's aware of the study, but he has not received a copy.
"I have talked informally [with officials] about it, but I have not been told anything officially," Bowers said. "The entire report would have to be released before any change could be made that would affect the Fire Department."
If the study is finished, it ought to be released regardless of the number of additional firefighters it recommends, Councilman William White said.
Some city officials have suggested privately that Crawford's support for more firefighters is an effort to boost membership in the firefighters' union and forestall any cuts in the Fire Department.
Because of tight budgets in recent years, the department has been under pressure to trim its $9.4 million budget.
Sources in the department said the report proposes closing Station No. 12 on Salem Turnpike Northwest and reassigning the firefighters to Station No. 1 downtown.
Over a five-year period, it recommends, three stations should be moved to provide faster response times in some areas. The stations are:
No. 2 on Noble Avenue Northeast near Interstate 581.
No. 4 on Aerial Way Drive Southwest off Brandon Avenue.
No. 7 on Memorial Avenue Southwest near Grandin Road.
The report proposes general vicinities for the relocated stations, but not specific sites.
The city's response time on most fire calls is four minutes or less, but it is slower in some areas in the Southwest and Northeast sections of the city.
If the stations were relocated, it would reduce response times by about one-third citywide, according to sources in the department.
The study has shown that 27 additional firefighters are needed for the 245-member department to ensure that all fire engines and ladder trucks are fully staffed.
The city has four firefighters assigned to each fire engine, but often there are only three aboard because some are off for vacation, training, illness or for other reasons. Similarly, four firefighters are assigned to ladder trucks, but only three are sometimes available.
Crawford said the additional firefighters are needed to meet National Fire Protection Association's standards on staffing.
The draft report also proposes hiring 19 additional firefighters to create a new ladder truck company and fill other positions.
by CNB