Residents, Pol Vow To Fight Plans To Eliminate Fire Units

Concerns about the future of Engine Co. 271 on the Ridgewood/ Bushwick border and other Fire Department companies that could be on the chopping block due to the city’s fiscal crisis were raised during last Wednesday’s Community Board 5 meeting in Ridgewood.

Josefina Sanfeliu of Latinas Against FDNY Cuts, along with Ridgewood resident and former firefighter Martin Price, spoke out against plans included in the mayor’s preliminary budget to close as many as 20 fire companies across the city.

Though neither the Fire Department nor the city have announced as of press time which units are in danger of being closed, Sanfeliu and Price speculated that Engine 271, located at 392 Himrod St., would be one of the companies targeted by the city for termination.

Last year, as previously reported, the company was one of four units ordered to close on certain overnights for the first six months of the year and was later named among 16 FDNY companies that were to be shut down in July 2009 due to budget cuts. Engine 271 was restored to fulltime duty in July after funding was provided through the City Council’s discretionary fund.

In January of this year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a preliminary budget indicating that up to 20 FDNY companies would be forced to close as a result the ongoing economic crisis gripping the city. Sanfeliu cited reports that another 42 units would be eliminated if the state approves a plan by Gov. David Paterson to cut the city’s funding by $1 billion.

More than 1,000 firefighters would also be laid off and the Fire Department would also be forced to reduce its staff of building inspectors, Sanfeliu said. She observed that potential reductions to the Fire Department were a decision that would put lives and property across the city in serious jeopardy.

Price, who told advisory body members that he fought fires in Bushwick during the 1970s, cited a report published by New York Newsday in 1993 listing 25 fire companies the city sought to eliminate. Two of the units were closed that year, he said, while four others were shut in 2003.

Engine 271 was on that 1993 list along with Engine companies 293 in Woodhaven, 294 in Richmond Hill, 206 in Williamsburg and 218 in Bushwick. All remain in operation currently.

The former firefighter speculated that the companies were among those being considered for closure in this new round of cutbacks. He called on members of the community to work together and unite to prevent any fire companies from closing down.

Price charged that the closing of fire companies around the city would affect neighboring communities whose engine and ladder companies would be required to serve a larger area. This would result in longer delays in responding to local fires and medical emergencies, he said.

City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, who was recently named as chairperson of the Fire and Criminal Justice Committee, vowed to thwart any effort to shut down Engine 271 or other units around the five boroughs, saying that the loss of companies “would be a threat and danger for all” residents.

“We fought to keep Engine 271 open,” she said. “It wasn’t an easy battle. We need to band together to make sure these fire companies stay open.”

Sanfeliu noted that her organization holds an annual walk around Brooklyn stopping at the former headquarters of defunct fire companies as well as the scenes of major fires. This year, the protest—scheduled to take place on May 8—plans to make a stop at Engine 271 to call on the city to keep the unit in operation.