Wilmington, DE Company Brownouts--Please Help

[Rob Pryor]

As many of you know, Wilmington, DE suffered a double LODD on September 24th, when Captain Chris Leach and Lt Jerry Fickes died while searching a burning rowhome for reported trapped occupants.  Their deaths occurred when Capt Leach fell through the first floor into the burning basement along with Firefighters Brad Speakman and Ardythe Hope.  Firefighters Speakman and Hope were pulled from the basement with critical burn injuries.  Firefighter Hope remains in extremely critical condition with burns over 70% of her body at Crozer Burn Center in Chester, PA.  Capt Leach was trapped by falling debris and Lt Fickes and other members of Squad 4 attempted to free him.  During this rescue attempt, the remainder of the 1st floor collapsed on them, killing Capt Leach and Lt Fickes. 

 

What many do not know is that the first due Engine company to this fire, Engine 6, was closed that evening.  The travel distance to the fire for Engine 6 is approximately 1/2 mile.  The first due engine that night was Engine 1, their travel distance is over 2 miles.  The WFD administration, in an attempt to save money on overtime expenses, has been closing an engine company on a daily basis for the past several years.  This flawed policy takes the on duty force from 6 engine companies and 2 truck companies with 34 firefighters down to 5 engine companies and 2 truck companies with 30 firefighters on duty.  A double fatal fire occurred in January of 2016 where 2 small girls were killed in a house fire, on that day, Engine 1, the first due engine to the fire was closed. 

 

After this fire, and the LODD fire, the closures stopped briefly.  Now, nearly 2 months to the day, the closures have started again!!!  Showing that the city and the FD administration value the dollar above life, both civilian and firefighter.  Below is a link to a Change.org petition that wil be delivered to the mayor, fire chief and city council.  Please take a moment to sign the petition to stop company closures and share it with others.  You make be asked for a donation when you are completing the petition.  This is generated by the website operator and is not related to the actual petition, there is no fundraising involved with the petition.  You do not need to donate to sign.  Thank you for your help!!!!!

 

https://www.change.org/p/stop-rolling-by...department

 

 

[Guest]

Seems like these overtime problems arise every year. The WFD needs to do a better job of managing its personnel to reduce overtime. They also need to do a better job of predicting overtime needs using an attendance model based on dept history. Cities often underestimate overtime needs when creating the budget and then act "surprised" when additional overtime is needed. 

With eleven vacancies and now the loss of the four Firefighters from Canby Park, that is the equivalent of the personnel needed to properly staff the Conditional closure company. If you don't hire the people or accurately predict your personnel needs, you shouldn't complain about paying overtime or closing companies to replace them! WFD Administration...do your job!

[Rob Pryor]

When OT is historically 1 to 1.5 million a year, why would you only budget 500k knowing it won't be enough? Add to that the additional vacancies created by the unfortunate LODD's and a large amount not of extra OT created by a 6 alarm fire a few weeks later and you have a recipe for crisis. Also, multiply that by general mis management and cronyism and this is what you get. Thankfully, this administration has 47 days left

[Guest]

So the WFD has 8 fire companies in service requiring a minimum of 32 Firefighters and has to resort to OT or company closing when more than two Firefighters are off for any reason? No wonder they have a problem! 

[Rob Pryor]

6 engines, 2 trucks, and 2 Battalion Chiefs in service per shift.  When there is more than 1 OT spot required to fill the 34 spots, an engine will be placed out of service.  Each day there is more than 2 openings requiring OT, therefore each day an engine is placed out of service.  Currently only Engine 1, 5, and 6 are the rotated companies, so every 3rd day the same engine is closed.  As a sad irony, Engine 6, the first due engine to the double LODD fire on Lakeview Rd was closed yesterday, 11/24; 2 months to the day from the fire.  Engine 6 was also closed the day of the fatal fire. 

[Guest]

Is there any limit as to how many Firefighters can be off at one time? Overall, how many Firefighters are assigned to each shift?

[Rob Pryor]

There are 37 firefighter's assigned to each shift. Each truck co and the squad are assigned 5 firefighter's, minimum staffing required by contract is 4 per company. presently due to 12 vacancies, and long term injuries, each shift is down several members. There are 5 vacation slots allowed each day by contract, but there is frequently less than this offf each day

[Guest]

Thanks Rob. Just trying to understand the situation! I was in charge of Personnel and Manpower for the Newark, NJ Fire Dept until 2009. This problem is mainly caused by the failure of the administration to properly understand and prepare for manpower issues. It seems like each shift is starting with a deficit of manpower before vacation and sick/injury leave is even counted. The knee-jerk reaction is to close a company instead of paying OT or ...(gasp)...coming up with a long-term solution! Poor management here!

[Rob Pryor]

You have it exactly right. We need to hire yesterday, with our losses in September it has only widened the situation. We are fortunately about to undergo an administration change, but that will put us further in the hole for manpower. Fiscal responsibility does not trump safety of members or citizens. This is a failed policy all around, and another kick in the crotch to an already suffering department

[Guest]

Best of luck! If there is anything I can do to help, let me know! tgr415@aol.com

My son, Matt Reiss, is a Wilmington Police Officer, so I have a special interest!

[Rob Pryor]

Thanks Tom.  As an update to this, the Chief has now closed Engine 6 until further notice, detailing it's members to other companies to fill vacancies.  This leaves about 13,000 residents in a very densely populated portion of the city without an engine company.  Engine 6 would have been the 1st due engine to the LODD fire on 9/24.  The closure of Engine 6 that night meant an additonal 2-3 minutes response time for the next closest engine company to respond.  In addition, the chief is now proposing that the 13 open positions on the department, soon to be 15, be eliminated entirely.  He is also asking the union to re-open our collective bargaining agreement to re-negotiate our minimum manning clause (an officer and 3 firefighters on each in service apparatus) and also our 24/72, 4 platoon shift.  This guy is either backed into a corner by the negative publicity and public pressure he is seeing and is trying to shift blame to the union; or he is doing the dirty work for the incoming administration.

 

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news.../94606978/

 

http://wdel.com/story/78514-video-counci...wilmington

[Guest]

Thanks Rob. This Chief is obviously in over his head! He has no clue of what to do and so basically done nothing! I have made a few comments & suggestions on the Facebook page that was created for this issue. Good luck, stay safe!

[grubber33270]

This is now a Triple LODD Fire, the 3rd Firefighter Passed away today.

[nozzleman]

I just read that. Any word on the charges on the lady who started that fire.

[Rob Pryor]

The woman that "allegedly" (because of course we can't really say that she did it) started the fire has been charged with 2 counts of 1st degree murder,  1st degree arson and 4 counts of 2nd degree assault, and 7 counts of reckless endangerment.  I would imagine a third murder count will be added following yesterdays news.  Here is a link to the article about the arrest.  Please pray for Ardy's family and for the WFD.  It seems like this nightmare just will not end.

 

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news.../91260468/