Save Money and Fight Fires (or something like that)

THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, HAS DIRECTED the Fire Chief Laura Knapp to cut spending 10% over the next three years.  So she has come up with a plan that the City Council loves to hear.  So much so that yesterday morning (Tuesday) they unanimously approved the plan and gave her the go-ahead to start implementing it.

The city has 11 fire stations and Knapp plans to replace the fire engines in three of them with "Quick Response Vehicles" (QRV's), described by the fire department as "basically a Dodge chassis with a box on the back" for a 300-gallon water tank and compressed-air foam system.

This GRFD drawing looks an awful lot like THIS ONE:

SGVN photo

The selling points for this conversion are first of all, replacement costs of $873,000 for all three units compared to a comparable price for one real fire engine. 

Secondly, the QRV's will only carry two firefighters instead of the three or four currently riding on the real fire engines.  This will allow the department to operate with 12 fewer firefighters, music to a councilman's ears.  Twelve is the magic number because the SAFER grant that the FD received to fund 12 positions runs out in three years and apparently the city does not have plans to retain those slots.

Chief Knapp projects a total savings of $21 million over the next 15 years once the plan goes into effect.

The Grand Rapids Press tells us:

Knapp hopes they will help the fire department maintain existing service levels in the face of coming staffing cuts.

About 89 percent of current fire-service calls are handled by a single unit, Knapp said. The "quick-response" units could handle those calls, she said.

"We need to better align our resources with these single-unit calls to ensure our performance is maintained (as we reduce firefighters to cut costs)," Knapp said. "Right now we don’t have a lot of flexibility in our deployment. The (‘quick-response vehicle’) is the answer for our current rigid operational system."

The firefighters themselves aren't convinced yet that fewer fire engines and fewer FF's will translate into "maintaining existing service levels."  William Smith, president of the Local tells the GR Press,  "If they’re rolled out, we’ll do what we’re told to do. There’s a question of how effective they’ll be."

WZZM-TV filed this brief video report:

Full report in the Grand Rapids Press HERE.
Local President Smith speaks more about their skepticism HERE.

Firegeezer notes:  These things became popular back in the great recession of the late 1970's.  Back then they were called "mini-pumpers" and were introduced with the same promises we're hearing from Grand Rapids.  Several dozens of fire departments jumped into the concept, but within three years they were all back to Plan A.  Why do people think it will magically start working now?  Or is this just a gimmick to get the budgeteers to turn their focus onto another agency?

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Adept at Anything

A FIREFIGHTER AT TIRUPATI AIRPORT in India had a quick job description ammendment last month when the two air traffic controllers failed to show up for work.

Tirupati Airport (Wikipedia)

When a Jet Airways flight from Hyderabad arrived in the airport control area, they were not able to get any response from the tower for landing instructions. Tirupati has no approach radar and pilots rely on air traffic controllers to provide runway and weather information and give landing clearance.

Immediately the airport's deputy general manager orderd one of the airport's firefighters, known only as Basha, to the tower and gave him directions over the phone on how to bring a plane in for a landing.

Following his directions, Basha safely landed the plane carrying 60 passengers.  The quick-learning firefighter continued his fill-in duty for about 40 minutes before one of the tardy controllers finally showed up.

The grossly unsafe incident was made public yesterday when the airport executive that made the decision was suspended from his job along with the two missing controllers.

BBC News carried the STORY.
One India News has MORE.

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Child Porn Claims Another One

A HOUSTON, TEXAS, FIRE CAPTAIN HAS RESIGNED following his arrest and incarceration for possessing child pornography and "inappropriate online contact" with an underage girl.

Saul A. Fiszer

Saul Fiszer, 49, was arrested earlier this week and placed on leave.  He has been with the HFD for 18 years but volunteered to resign on Friday.  He has been in jail since Tuesday on $20,000 bond that apparently nobody is willing to post for him.

The Houston Chronicle reports:

On Jan. 10, Fiszer's wife found a frequently called number on his cellphone, according to court records. Posing as him, she began texting the number.

Fiszer's wife "found that the person texting her from the cellphone was a 14-year-old female who resided in Casper, Wyo., and referred to Fiszer as 'Daddy,' " the records state.

Confronted by his wife, Fiszer "admitted to her that he had been chatting online and trading pictures" with the teen, according to records.

Fiszer told police that he tried to kill himself by running a hose into his vehicle from its exhaust, but the suicide attempt failed when he ran out of gas.

Houston police confiscated Fiszer's laptop and media storage devices that held pornographic images and a video of children, investigators said. Officials said they found at least 450 images of child pornography.

KTRK-TV adds:

Fiszer's wife told investigators that she contacted the girl's parents as well as police in Wyoming to report the incident. Police there confiscated the girl's cell phone.

According to court documents, Fiszer's wife confronted him about the girl and she said he admitted to her that he had been chatting online and exchanging lewd pictures with the girl. The wife also told authorities that she had previously destroyed Fiszer's old laptop after she discovered he had been chatting with other women on the internet.

KTRK also filed this video report:

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Updated:  Charges Laid Out in Open Hearing Friday Morning.  Scroll Down.

A HALIFAX, MASSACHUSETTS, FIREFIGHTER was arrested Thursday afternoon on undisclosed charges and later released on bond.  Matthew Paris was picked up around 4 pm on a warrant and will face an arraignment this morning (Friday).

Halifax Fire Station

Hallifax Fire Chief William Carrico confirmed that one of his FF's has been arrested and said that he will issue a press release later this morning.  News reports are saying that Paris was charged with misconduct on the job, but nothing specific is known yet.  (Scroll down for update that outlines the charges.)

WCVB-TV Ch. 5 posted this video report last night:

FF Paris was hired on a part-time basis in 1998 and since 2000 has been a full-time firefighter with the department.  Halifax has six officers, six full-time fireghters and 16 paid-on-call FF's.

The Enterprise has MORE.
Halifax Fire Department WEBSITE.

Update, 1:30 pm Eastern:

Facing a judge in an open hearing Friday morning, Paris heard the charges laid against him for lewd acts committed on a minor.  Specifically, he was charged with two counts of open and gross lewdness, one count of accosting or annoying a person of the opposite sex, and one count of distribution of obscene material to a minor after he allegedly exposed himself and talked about sex to a 14-year-old.

Paris in his court appearance
on Friday.  (NECN image)

Prosecutors said the girl and her parents reported to police four separate incidents with Paris that happened between last summer and last week. The girl said the last incident happened last Friday.

He is being held on $10,000 bail.

NECN filed this video report from the courtroom:

The Wicked Local has more details HERE.

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Onerous Residency Law Forces Action.

THE ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, FIREFIGHTERS are in a jam thanks to the city's oppressive residency requirements.  St. Louis, like many other failed cities, requires its employees to live inside the city.  These laws are usually a tactic to keep more of the taxpayers on the public payroll instead of being shunted aside by better-qualified people who don't live in the city.  This has a bad effect on firefighters and police officers who traditionally will sacrifice their own comfort and abide by the law in order to keep a job that they really love and do well.

The hang-up for most younger workers in the city is the fact that the school systems in these places are just as bad or worse than the rest of the city government and the employees do not want to send their children to non-productive public schools.  The St. Louis schools are so bad that they have lost their state accreditation.

The St. Louis Beacon tells, …. because the firefighters have to live in the city, their choice is between unaccredited public schools, charter schools or private or parochial schools that charge tuition.  If the choice is to pay tuition, the bill can be a hefty one. Wayne Killingsworth said he is paying more than $20,000 a year for his children to attend parochial schools.

Missouri has a state law that requires surrounding jurisdictions to accept students from municipalities that don't have accredited schools into their schools and the tuition and transportation costs are to be borne by the home jurisdiction.

But the couties surrounding St. Louis are balking at accepting the foreign students and now five firefighters have filed a suit asking the court to force the school districts to obey the law and allow them to enroll their children.  Again from the Beacon:

Ryan, who was rebuffed in his effort to enroll his child in Kirkwood, said he doesn't mind having to live in the city, but he doesn't think his child's education should suffer.

"I would prefer to remain in the city and have my daughter attend an accredited school," he said, adding that instead, she is "trapped in a failed district."

"All we are asking," Ryan added, "is that the Outstanding Schools Act be enforced as written. We don't want the future to be unpredictable when it comes to our daughter's education."

IAFF Local 73 is supporting their challenge.

Read the entire article in the St. Louis Beacon to learn the details of this problem and challenge HERE.

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Defining Deviancy Down:
 So Just What Constitutes a Firing Offense, Then?

A QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, PARAMEDIC STILL HAS his job and nobody knows why.  The Courier-Mail is reporting today:

The 40-year-old paramedic was working near Rockhampton where he stole methoxyflurane – a non-opioid alternative to morphine often used for acute trauma – from the Queensland Ambulance Service in November 2010.

QAS suspended him a month later and court documents show he was convicted in Brisbane Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to "stealing as a servant" in April last year, receiving a $500 fine and five days' imprisonment.

Documents obtained by The Courier-Mail under Right to Information laws show he received a subsequent "formal reprimand" and demotion last June.

This recent disclosure has political groups, labor organizations and government officials in conniptions over why this convicted drug thief was allowed to keep his job.  The Queensland Ambulance Service is keeping mum about it though (so far).

The Courier-Mail has today's breaking story on this travesty HERE.

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Shortest Tenured-ever Chief Leaves FD

COLLINSVILLE, ILLINOIS, IS ONCE AGAIN LOOKING for a new fire chief since their most recent appointee has resigned before he showed up for his first day of work.

Eric Hall had been selected from a list of candidates to head the Collinsville Fire Department and was sworn in at the December 12 City Council meeting.  He was expected to begin his duties on December 27, but he contacted the city manager on December 23 and told him that he would not be taking the job after all. 

Eric Hall was accompanied by his family
at his swearing-in on December 12.
(Collinsville City Council video image)

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:

Acting City Manager Scott Williams said Hall contacted him on Dec. 23 to say he would not be taking the job. "Citing family reasons, he contacted me and explained that he would not be able to begin his employment," Williams said. "He didn't explain his reasons beyond family issues and I didn't pry."

Hall, 38, is a Belleville native who served with the Des Peres (Mo.) Fire Department for 14 years. He began his career as a firefighter with the Northwest St. Clair County Fire Protection District and then served as a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department of St. Louis for two years.

Williams said Assistant Fire Chief Jim Peterson will continue in the role as Acting Fire Chief until a new fire chief can be hired. He said he is currently in the process of interviewing new candidates.

Collinsville Fire Department WEBSITE.

Collinsville FD Station 1

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Bad Apples Getting Weeded Out

A MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, FIREFIGHTER WAS ARRAIGNED Friday in Federal District Court on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Brandon Granger pleaded not guilty at the 12-minute appearance and was released on a $20,000 bond.  Granger had been placed on paid administrative leave on October 18 and six week later he was indicted on the charges.  The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports further:

The four-page indictment alleges that Granger conspired to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine from 2009 to Oct. 17, 2011 in Minnesota and beyond. The indictment alleges that an Oct. 17 search of his south Minneapolis home uncovered at least seven guns, including a semi-automatic handgun and pistol, an assault rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun. Granger allegedly possessed the weapons "during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime."

Authorities also seized $4,000 in cash from Granger's Chevrolet Tahoe and $5,000 in cash from his home.

KSTP-TV filed this video report:

Read the full article in the Star-Tribune HERE.

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A CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA, FIREFIGHTER (now a former firefighter) has been charged with 10 counts of burglary and several other charges of stealing from 9 different county fire stations.

John Brush was a firefighter for 12 years before he abruptly resigned on September 19.  Police say that between July 13 and August 27 he called in numerous false 9-1-1 calls in order to empty the stations while he went in and stole undisclosed items.

KSNV-TV has posted this exclusive report on the arrest and suspected crimes:

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Council of Dunces Selling Off City Properties

THE CITY OF PONTIAC, MICHIGAN, HAS BEEN operating under the direction of a state-appointed emergency manager who has overseen the incomprehensible slashing of the city budget in order to restore fiscal stability to the city.  On Wednesday the firefighters union and the emergency manager, Lou Schimmel, came to a coerced agreement to cancel the firefighters' labor contract leading to the foregone decision to eliminate the entire fire department on February 1.

The plan calls for neighboring Waterford Township to take over the fire protection responsibilities of Pontiac on a contract basis, but the contract has not been negotiated, let alone approved, yet.

WJBK-TV filed this video report last night:

The city is so distressed that they have been reduced to putting most of their assets up for sale including the city hall along with the police station, the library, and their golf courses.  So far, nobody seems to be interested in investing in old buildings located in a decaying city that cannot provide basic services.  The Detroit Free Press wrote:

Pontiac lost out years ago on its biggest opportunity to sell a city asset — the Silverdome, the former home of the Detroit Lions — when elected officials turned down a $20-million offer in 2005. They sold it at auction for $583,000 in 2009.

 The entire list of city-owned properties for sale fills three pages and includes five fire stations, two cemeteries, two landfills, and 11 water-pumping stations.

Pontiac City Hall – make an offer

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Let the Police Chief Run It

IT WAS LAST MONTH ON NOVEMBER 2 when we told you (HERE) about the Highwood, Illinois, Deputy Fire Chief Ronald Pieri having been arrested for fiddling his time sheets.  You will probably recall the story when reminded that is the tiny town that has no fire chief and assigns the deputy chief to run the show.

Ron Pieri  (Lake County Sheriff photo)

Pieri was arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to six felony charges relating to false time reports.  The Highland Park News reported:

Lake County judge Daniel Shanes read Pieri the charges Wednesday morning, which include two counts of official misconduct, three counts of theft ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, and one count of false entry. Sentencing guidelines call for two to 30 years in prison, depending on the count, the judge explained. Fines can reach $25,000 for each, if found guilty.

Additional details of the government’s case, which were revealed in court Wednesday, allege that Pieri’s timecards between Jan. 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2010, reflect hours he did not work. The pay in question also worked to increase his overall benefits package, said judge Shanes reading the charges.

Highwood Mayor Charlie Pecaro said that the city is conducting interviews for an interim-chief, but in January they will consider hiring a public safety chief who would run both the police and fire departments.  Pieri has been on paid administrative leave since he was arrested on November 1.

Firegeezer notes:  That's the ticket… instead of giving a raise to a firefighter promotion, send the money over to the police budget to give their chief a big raise while he lets the FD run itself.

Hat tip:  Mark D.

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