I felt the need to write this letter after the last Fire Board meeting.

At the Fire Board meeting, Assistant Chief Michael Seeloff submitted a letter signed by the fire department’s officers. The officers wanted to go on record as being opposed to the manning reduction and to notify the Fire Board that in their professional opinion we are operating at unsafe levels.

I take exception to Commissioner Robinson’s reaction to Assistant Chief Seeloff’s letter and the statements he made regarding our staffing. Commissioner Robinson had two primary reactions to AC Seeloff’s letter. The first was that the reduction to six-man minimum manning was not a substantial change from how we previously operated. The second was that it was after the fact and concerns should have been brought up before.

The reduction in manning is a huge change. While true that under our old system when the ambulance was on a call we had an initial response of six men, it would be disingenuous to equate that to a permanent minimum staffing of six. On an average day, the ambulance would be on calls maybe for four hours. That means that over 80 percent of the, time the response was nine men. In addition, the ambulance crew was available for firefighting usually in less than 15 minutes.

Actuals fires have rarely been responded to with six men and when it has occurred the ambulance crew rapidly arrived on scene, much sooner than call in firefighters or mutual aid could. The reduced effectiveness of six firefighters cannot be overstated, and anyone who claims this is an adequate response is uninformed, uneducated in firefighting or pursuing their own agenda and outright lying.

LFD recently had a garage fire at 26 Remick Pkwy. Medic 5 was on a call and the response was six men. Due to difficulty establishing water supply because of dead end water lines, the fire almost spread to the two adjoining houses. Six men were unable to rapidly establish water supply and control the fire. It was the rapid and fortuitous arrival of the ambulance crew that allowed the fire to be brought under control before igniting the neighboring homes. As it is, both houses did suffer exterior damage. If this had been a night with only
six men on duty, very likely this fire would have spread to the two houses. Feel free to drive by the site and see the proximity of the houses and damage.

Another hole in the argument that this isn’t a significant change is that LFD is still responding to ambulance calls but now with an engine. When at a minimum manning of six, that will leave only four men to respond to fire calls. It will also reduce the apparatus response to a single engine.

Another question asked at the meeting was why did the fire union not come earlier and speak against these changes. The Fire Board has not been operating in an open and transparent way. They generally fail to comply with the New York State Open Meetings Law and frequently go into executive session on topics that should be discussed openly. In addition there have been frequent changes to meeting times and only once has the fire union been invited to attend a meeting.  Additionally without prior knowledge of what action the mayor is requesting of the Board, we have no idea what topics to address and what potential changes to speak against. The Fire Board has also been under a ‘gag’ order to not speak to or accept written information from the fire union. We have, though, provided numerous reports and documents that should provide ample evidence that the cuts and changes made by the Board were not in the best interests of the taxpayers or firefighters.

The Fire Board has been asked to make changes and cuts by the administration in response to fiscal problems. These problems are the direct result of the politicians mismanagement not only of finances but of the opportunities to negotiate structural and contractual changes to reduce costs. The resulting "crisis" has been used as an excuse to pursue an agenda of cuts that has led to unsafe working conditions and a direct negative impact on public safety. In addition the Lockport Fire Department is providing manpower to subsidize a private company’s activities, further reducing our effectiveness.

As the Fire Board is solely responsible for the Fire Department, the ultimate fault rests on their shoulders. It is time for the Board to act as the independent body it should be and take action to address these unsafe
conditions before someone gets seriously hurt.  The board should demand serious negotiations to address fiscal issues instead of allowing temporary politicians to permanently undermine the safety of the citizens and employees of Lockport.

Kevin Watier is the secretary/treasurer of Lockport Fire Fighters Local 963.

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