New Bedford residents protest fire company brown-outs
By Bianca Buono
@BBuonoABC6
New Bedford residents protested on the steps of city hall Thursday afternoon in an effort to stop the city’s rolling blackouts of their fire companies.
“We’re going to try to have people here every Thursday until the city at least commits to looking into alternatives,” said protestor Matthew Daniels.
The city’s ten fire companies rotate in what are called brown-outs and temporarily shut down for one day at a time. The city started this policy years ago to try and cut down on soaring overtime costs.
"The department’s budget went up 18% in the current fiscal year whereas virtually every other of the 30 something departments in city government were cut so to say that the fire department is being short-changed doesn’t fit with the facts,” said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell.
According to an FAQ page provided by the city, the brown-outs reduce overtime costs by $10,000 to $15,000 a week. New Bedford Fire Department’s deputy chief understands why the city implemented the policy, but says overtime isn’t the problem. He says the department is under staffed.
"If we had adequate manpower we wouldn’t have this overtime crisis but the mayor says he can’t afford it,” said New Bedford Deputy Chief Robert Frates.
According to the city, the department has relied on federal funding; but they could lose that funding come later this spring so the city is leaving the open positions unfilled for now. Mayor Mitchell’s office tells ABC6 Mitchell went to Washington, D.C. last week in an effort to secure the funds.
So far, Frates says the brown-outs haven’t led to any major injuries or extensive damage; but he says they’ve been lucky and it’s only a matter of time.
"You can only roll the dice so many times. It’s going to happen where that first line piece is not there, you have a fire in the middle of the night that gets going well enough nobody sees it, nobody notices it. It’s going to happen,” Frates said.
Which is why the protestors want change. They say the safety of their community is at risk.
"I think it’s prudent to, you know, gamble with public safety basically,” said Matthew Daniels.
"What if they’re too late? What if they don’t have enough time to get there and to get people out safely?” said protestor Sarah Daniels.
The brown-outs are not a permanent solution, but they are expected to continue at least until June and likely beyond. Mayor Mitchell says a new public safety complex is in the works to combine two of the city’s stations, which would alleviate the problem.
© WLNE-TV 2016
