Layoffs in the Fire Department may lead to the closing of Fire Station 2 on Dumont Avenue.

Residents, firefighters protest plans to lay off 17 firefighters

CLIFTON — Firefighters, their families and concerned residents packed the Council chambers at City Hall Tuesday night to protest layoffs in the Fire Department that may lead to the closing of a firehouse.

"I can understand budgeting problems, but I cannot understand jeopardizing people’s lives," said Clifton resident Louis Imparato, former Passaic fire chief.

"I do not believe there are enough firefighters in Clifton, based on my own experience," he said.

The City Council has proposed trimming 60 City jobs to save $4.1 million in spending this year with $600,000 coming from cuts in the Fire Department which include cutting 17 jobs and demoting five senior fire officials.

City officials said jobs would be saved if the five employee unions approved freezing salaries at their 2008 rate this year. So far, at least one union, the Superior Officer’s Association has agreed to forgo pay raises, City Attorney Matt Priore said during the meeting. The other units would have to adopt the measure before March 6, when the layoffs become effective.

While negotiations with the unions continue, department heads have been evaluating the impact of the City’s layoff plan on their operations. In a letter dated Feb. 10, Acting Fire Chief Joseph Verderosa told City Manager Al Greco he would have to close Engine Company Number 2, located on Dumont Avenue, as a result of the layoffs. Verderosa said he did not recommend the measure, but "given the pending layoffs we are facing, I have no other alternatives than to choose a company that will have the least impact on our emergency services," he wrote in the memo.

The station would close on March 7 at 8 a.m.

It takes 16 people to staff an engine 24 hours, seven days a week, Verderosa said. The decision to close Station 2 in the Albion section was made based on the number of calls in that zone, response times and the amount of impact it would have on the community. Closing that firehouse would have the least amount of impact, Verderosa said, adding the company responded to 42 fires last year, less than the other five firehouses in the City.

"Our entire department is going to be impacted. We have mutual aid to consider," Verderosa said, adding the closing will make it more difficult because Engine 2 is one of the mutual aid companies.

The company also provides emergency response for neighboring Montclair and Paterson.

Verderosa proposed alternatives to closing a station that included civilianizing the City’s ambulance service or using a federal grant to staff a third ambulance to generate revenue from runs to bordering towns. In order to use the SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant, the City would not be able to lay off firefighters, officials said. Verderosa said other ways to generate revenue are still being researched, however none of the proposals, including the closing of the fire station, have been approved yet.

Earlier this week, City firefighters handed out approximately 12,000 flyers urging residents to protest the layoffs during the Tuesday council meeting.

One paragraph reads: "The firefighters proposed a 2009 salary deferral and other contractual concessions, removing nearly $600,000 from the 2009 budget in an effort to prevent these planned 17 firefighter layoffs. To date the City has said thanks for your creative thinking, but no thanks."

"Our major concern is safety, not only for the residents, businesses owners and people we serve but for the firefighters themselves," said Clifton Firemen’s Mutual Benevolent Association President Bob DeLuca.

DeLuca said he was concerned about an NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) guideline, which sets a standard for fire response in an incident. Cutting back on one engine would slow the response time, he said.

"We’re not even compliant with that. To go one step lower is a dramatic step backwards," he added.

Residents of all sections came to ask the City Council to reconsider the layoff plan. Emotions were hard to contain for some.

"If you lay them off, are my taxes going to go down?" said an angry resident of the Williamsburg South complex on Grove Street.

Many others just came to watch and show their support of the City’s 148 firefighters.

"It’s difficult," said Annie McGurk, whose husband is one of the 17 firemen that will be laid off. "We’re a young family," she said, adding "It’s a danger for the people of Clifton."

City Council members fired back at comments, affirming their support for the first responders, but reminding residents that the City’s budget problems are out of their hands.

"These are times we don’t have control. The state has control. The economy has control," said Mayor James Anzaldi.