It's Our City is a project that uses TV, Radio and Web
to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.Firefighters Union Blames Mayor's Nov Budget Cuts for Collision
Friday, March 20th, 2009 at 5:23 pm - by Matt Campbell. Filed under: Budget.
Philadelphia’s firefighters union blamed the mayor’s recent budget cuts to the fire department for the reason two fire trucks collided in Center City yesterday. The collision at 8th and Lombard streets injured nine firefighters and one other person.
Brian McBride the president of the Philadelphia firefighters union IAFF Local 22, said when Mayor Michael Nutter announced he would shut down five fire engine companies and two ladder companies last November he increased the risk for accidents like this one.
A list of the fire companies that were recently deactivated
McBride told It’s Our City that because of the loss of a fire engines located in fire houses at the 4th & Arch streets station and Bainbridge & Broad streets that remaining fire companies are having to make more runs. In fact, McBride said “neither one of the trucks (Engine 42 and Ladder 9) would have left the station if the cuts hadn’t been made.” Both fire vehicles are stationed at 21st and Market streets.
The Mayor’s Press Secretary, Doug Oliver called McBride’s contention that the budget cuts were somehow to blame as “Utterly ridiculous.” Oliver says it’s “far fetched” to think a budget decision is the cause of a traffic accident. He said, “A more likely reason is that they didn’t see other.”
He took one last swipe at McBride, by saying that for anyone to be posturing during this budget crisis is something people should “seek to avoid.”
Key locations involved in Firefighters Union claim that the collision is a result of the budget cuts. Click map for interactive Google Map
What happened:
Engine 42 and Ladder 9 were first dispatched to 7th & Market streets. En route they were told they could return to their station.
The firefighters union said in the past Engine 8 from the 4th & Arch streets station would have been the first to be called for this call.
While returning to the station, Engine 42 and Ladder 9 were called to respond to an incident at 22nd and Wharton Streets.
Brian McBride of the firefighters union said in the past Engine 1 (now deactivated) from the station at Broad & Bainbridge streets would have probably responded to this second call.
It was at this point with Ladder 9 traveling west on Lombard and Engine 43 moving south on 8th that the two collided at 8th and Lombard streets.
View from Chopper 6
Speaking to 6ABC, McBride said the budget cuts forced the two vehicles to respond to areas that were previously not in their coverage region. The navigating in unfamiliar territory combined with the adrenalin, McBride said, is what caused the collision. In fact, McBride told Metro Philadelphia that “Those two companies were responding to calls they never would have responded to before.”
Fire Commission Lloyd Ayers in the same story called that absurd saying there was a third fire call yesterday morning, this one on St. James Street, and this required all available ladders in the Center City area to respond.
Doug Oliver with the mayor’s office, says McBride knows that there are many factors that go into determining which fire companies should respond and “this is nothing new” to have firefighters responding to different areas of the city.
Yesterday, Mayor Nutter announced a spending plan that would eliminate the city’s second $1 billion dollar budget gap with no major cuts to the fire department. The cuts McBride blames for yesterday’s accident were first announced in November 2008.
Related links:
March 22nd, 2009 at 5:20 am
When a fire went up at the Toys R Us on Oregon Ave. right before Christmas a year back, I got to see the firefighters rush into action. Within minutes, there were guys on the roof of the building, literally feet from the huge blaze. Ultimately, they put out the fire before it could hurt anyone, and the store was reopened within days. I thought to myself, “These have got to be the bravest guys in the world.”
But blaming someone else when you screw up? That sounds like an act of cowardice to me.
If 8th and Bainbridge is “unfamiliar territory” to members of the PFD, I think they’ve got bigger problems than budget cuts.
It’s important to note that McBride doesn’t blame a lack of trucks leading to this incident, but instead a change in the status quo.
My question: don’t these guys have GPS?
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:32 am
@Mikey. I would agree with your point that a fire trucks being dispatched from Center City to a location in South Philadelphia should not have been that big of a problem. So it will be interesting to see how this investigation plays out.
March 24th, 2009 at 9:02 am
True, these engines may not have responded if the closest engine/ladder were available, however, certainly those companies respond to that area fairly frequently on the box alarm areas.
Regardless, the argument holds no water, apparatus drivers are responsible for operating their vehicles safely and responding appropriately to traffic signaling devices which function the same thoughout the City (and the rest of this nation).
This does nothing to help the rank and file firefighters who are indeed putting their lives on the line and makes unions look bad. The IAFF President needs to think twice before trying to grab air time again.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I believe that overall, its both the city’s fault that these apparatus’ had to respond to areas outside their first or second due because of city cutbacks as well as the driver/operators faults for not paying better attention. These cutbacks are forcing the driver/operators who already have plenty they MUST know to memorize more….more hydrants, more streets, more FDCs it was an accident, nobody died and everybody learned…..send the drivers AND THEIR OFFICERS to an EVOC/EVDT class and stop complaining
March 25th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
I would disagree with Andy B. Today’s dispatch centers receive the call using enhanced 911 capabilities that pinpoint the address from which the call is received and layer in where hydrants and other information is located. That information is easily communicated to modern fire responders that utilize technology. There is no excuse to have this kind of accident except for carelessness. Most cities are deployed to handle fire calls which are a rarity; departments more often respond to medical — probably 4 or 5 for every fire call. Saying they can’t remember where hydrants and streets are located does not give me a great deal of comfort to know they’ll have any memory of what drugs to apply or other medical protocol. In that case, perhaps we need to hire better learners.