Firefighters: Proposed budget cut would put public's life and safety at risk

Sunday, November 9, 2008 6:20 AM EST
By Brandie Kessler

POTTSTOWN — After learning that Borough Council may discuss possibly cutting the fire department's funding by 25 percent when the 2009 budget is publicly aired for the first time Monday, several members of Pottstown's four fire companies gathered to discuss their concerns.At the top of the list of concerns is how residents could be affected if a proposed budget cut were approved.

"You're risking life and safety of the public," said Martin Durchin, of North End Fire Company.The fire companies were made privy to the possibility of a budget cut as high as 25 percent by Pottstown Fire Chief Richard Lengel who said the the matter was brought to his attention by his boss, Borough Manager Ray Lopez.The possible cut may be a result of a more than $300,000 shortfall in the borough's budget.In July, former borough finance director Robert Armelin predicted the borough would end the year with a shortfall of $200,000. Then, in October, Timothea Kirchner, a consultant with Financial Solutions of Reading which was hired to help the borough prepare its budget in the wake of Amelin's resignation, announced that the borough owes an additional $125,000 to one of the its insurance companies for its workers compensation fund.Representatives from North End, Phillies, Empire Hook & Ladder and Goodwill fire companies, were upset by the possibility of a budget cut, especially one as substantial as 25 percent, because it would affect the efficiency of their response. The hit could be so hard that if a cut as high as 25 percent was approved, it could result in the closing of a firehouse."You've gotta admit that 25 percent ... if somebody's going to take 25 percent of your income" that's a lot, regardless of whether you run a retail establishment or a fire company, said Mike Campeggio of Goodwill Fire Company.Joe Groff, of the Phillies Fire Company, said there are approximately 900 calls for service that Pottstown's fire companies respond to annually. A cut in the budget will not only have an effect on the ability of the paid personnel's response but "it will affect the volunteers, too," he said."They're going to feel they're not being respected by the borough."The four companies were allotted $740,000 collectively each year from 2007 to 2009 from the borough's overall budget. That figure, when split among the four companies, amounts to $185,000 each. But the services that each of the companies provide, "you can't put a number on that," said Dave Ondik of Empire Hook & Ladder.Ondik further noted that the companies "have been very frugal with the money they receive," explaining that despite a rise in fuel prices which spiked this summer, the operating costs for the companies "have been even-keeled."Lengel said the borough fire companies are faced with the fact that fundraisers aren't successful like they used to be. However, the fire companies have managed to purchase eight pieces of apparatus in the past 17 years through "their own hard work" fundraising, which have not cost taxpayers a dime.Furthermore, the fire officials noted that the funding for the fire companies has not increased in 3 years, and it was last increased 4 years before that.According to Lengel, the fire companies funding has increased just 50 percent in the past 17 years.With $185,000 each company received in 2007 and 2008, and which they are hoping to again receive in 2009 to put towards their operating costs if it isn't cut, the fire department still "starts out in the hole," Lengel said.A large portion of the fire department's funding goes toward paying a driver who is a career firefighter to be on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at each of the four fire companies.Having all four companies is important, the fire officials agreed, because it allows them to respond appropriately to all calls for service.Kevin Yerger, of Goodwill Fire Company, explained that during the devastating fire that struck the 500 block of High Street Sept. 19, fire officials were on the scene within a minute of the call. During their first nine minutes on the scene, officials had performed four rescues of people on a rooftop, searched the exposures of the burning buildings, evacuated those in danger and coordinated a medical helicopter for one person who had sustained severe injuries."That won't happen," Yerger said, if the funding for the fire departments is cut and their response time is affected as a result.The fire in the 200 block of High Street that erupted Jan. 26 and caused more than $2.5 million in damage, could have been much more damaging and costly if the initial response wasn't as strong, officials said."That could have been a whole block instead of three buildings," Ondik said.Durchin emphasized that it's not just commercial buildings that benefit from a quick response — currently an average of 2 to 3 minutes — from the borough's fire companies, but its also residential buildings.Cutting funding from the fire companies affects their ability to operate efficiently, Durchin said. "It just curtails our ability to serve the public and that's what we were formed for."Campeggio noted that when the borough asks for a fire company's assistance, whether to help clear fallen trees in the interest of public safety, assist the police department with a call, or any other request, "we do it and there's no additional cost incurred," because the fire companies budget is set. There's no overtime paid to the borough's fire companies. They are given the funds approved in the budget, and that's what they have to work with for the year."The borough needs to provide assistance to the residents of the borough," Campeggio said. "No matter how minor or severe. We need to be able to respond.""We at the fire companies, we understand budgets," Groff said. "But we want to protect the citizens.""We need to stress to the residents that we're always there for them, now's the time for the residents and the business owners to come to bat for us," Campeggio said, urging residents and business owners to make it known what the fire services in the community mean to them.Don Gephard, of Empire Hook & Ladder said being a member of a fire company in the community means being responsible for serving the community."I think there's a lot of pride in the fire departments in the borough," he said. "We're here for the borough and we want to give the best service we can."The Borough Council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at Borough Hall.

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