Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Does it make sense that in Onondaga County alone, outside of the City of Syracuse, there are 57 separate fire departments, spending about $28 million every year?
Among those asking that question is the Onondaga County Executive, Joanie Mahoney. “If you look at what other communities have and what we have, it certainly begs the question, that we are spending more on apparatus, maybe than we need to? And those are real dollars that we are pass on to taxpayers,” she said.
Mahoney has already been talking to state experts and with individual fire departments about saving some of this money. “Is it possible to go to the state and ask permission to share some of this equipment? Can we put together a map of who has what equipment, and not necessarily buy a million dollar truck right down the street from where we have another million dollar truck right down the street from where we have another million dollar truck? Those costs are being borne by the same people that are paying the rest of the taxes here in Onondaga County.”
Mahoney is not exaggerating the cost of some fire vehicles. The base cost for these vehicles is in the very high six figures, and with options, they can easily top a million dollars each.
A comparison of the numbers equipment and facilities in Onondaga County, excluding the City, and the City of Syracuse itself:
| Syracuse
| Onondaga County (excluding Syracuse)
|
Heavy Rescues
| 1
| 31
|
Fire Engines
| 10
| 85
|
Arial Trucks
| 7
| 41
|
Fire Stations
| 11
| 85
|
Additionally, New York City has only 5 heavy rescue vehicles. County Emergency Management Director Pete Alberti says it's more complex than cutting the number of trucks. Staffing, specifically volunteers, must be taken into consideration. If you have a truck in the city fire station, with an assigned crew on duty all the time, you know how fast they'll respond, and what they are capable of when they get to the fire scene. With the same truck in a volunteer station, it becomes more unpredictable. “I don't totally know all the time, who's gonna show up, if they're gonna show up,” Alberti said.
If it is possible to strategically locate the equipment so that it can be easily shared among departments, the lack of volunteers again becomes a challenge. “If you don't have the assigned staff, readily scheduled, available to staff that vehicle, it may be of no use to anyone. And if you have agreements to share it with a number of departments that's gonna let everyone down,” Alberti said.
Alberti said that it may be beneficial to consider consolidating equipment, and hiring more full-time staff. “If we can get that discussion going, I think it would be beneficial and we could really take a look at all the level of service and the equipment that's needed throughout the county,” he said. “What are they willing to pay for? At the bottom line, what are they comfortable with?”
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