Fire Station 2 will reopen on Sunday at 8am

Firefighters return to work on Friday; Fire Station 2 will re-op

Clifton Journal Article by Albina Sportelli, Editor - May 07, 2009

Fire Station 2 on Dumont Avenue will re-open on Sunday at 8 a.m.

CLIFTON — Shuttered for about two months, Clifton’s Fire Station 2 on Dumont Avenue is scheduled to re-open at 8 a.m. on Sunday, said retired Deputy Fire Chief Tom Lyons on Wednesday.
The re-opening will follow the reinstatement of 12 firefighters who were laid off in March. The firefighters, Lyons said, are expected to be reinstated on Friday morning at 10 a.m. at Clifton City Hall.
The station shut down on March 7 following the layoffs of 12 firefighters and the retirement of a number of firefighters and fire officials.
The Station covered, and will once again cover, a wide area of the City, including the Hazel and Albion sections, Clifton High School and the Daughters of Miriam nursing home. The station also provided mutual assistance to Montclair and Paterson, Lyons said.
On Tuesday night the Clifton City Council approved an ordinance, on second vote, to change the Department’s table of organization back to 140 from the temporary 128.
According to Council members, the City resorted to layoffs in order to close a budget gap of $4 million caused by rising insurance costs, pension payments and contractual salary increases. After the FMBA agreed to some give-backs, including working for two weeks without pay, the City agreed to reinstate the laid off firefighters and re-open the firehouse.
On Monday, at 2 p.m. the Fire Department will hold a ceremony to promote fire personnel to fill brass positions vacated by retirements. The ceremony will also be held at Clifton City Hall.
As part of cutting costs, Clifton laid off 29 other City employees at the time the firefighters were laid off in March, and demoted one police lieutenant and two police sergeants. The City’s police union is currently in contract negotiations with the City, said the City’s Manager Al Greco, who refused to elaborate on the contract specifics.

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