State to layoff county Forest Fire Patrolmen, ACTION ALERT: please contact the governors office, and your local reps!! THese are the guys that helped Holbrook with Firewise, too! The following article appeared in the Boston Globe :State forest fire bureau bracing for cutback, layoffs Training program may be impaired
By
David Abel Globe Staff / October 3, 2009
Steep budget cuts at the Department of Conservation and Recreation will reduce the state’s ability to fight forest fires, fire officials across the state said yesterday.
Over the next week, the agency will issue layoff notices to as many as 55 employees to account for the $11 million in budget cuts required as a result of the state’s fiscal crisis. Those cuts are likely to reduce the staff of the agency’s Bureau of Forest Fire Control by at least half.
“It’s going to be devastating,’’ said Dennis Annear, president of the Massachusetts Forest Fire Council and fire chief for the town of Orange. “This bureau will have a lack of ability to do its job in supporting municipalities in detection, prevention, and suppression.’’
He said the cuts also mean the state will have fewer programs to teach residents how to avoid forest fires and fewer programs to train firefighters how to respond to forest fires. The cuts may also reduce the amount of federal firefighting equipment brought to the state as part of a program the bureau manages.
Annear said the cuts mean the state will have about one fire official in each of its 14 districts trained in fighting forest fires. “So if there’s a large wildfire, we’re going to have to pull people from other [districts], and we’re not going to have anyone to respond to fires in those areas,’’ he said.
Richard K. Sullivan Jr., the department’s commissioner, said the cuts are going to hit employees across the board and reflect the 12 percent hit the agency must take in its $82 million budget.
“Are there going to be impacts in that bureau? Yes,’’ Sullivan said. “But we have statutory requirements, which we will maintain. There’s also a public safety requirement, and we’ll maintain that. But this is similar to what cities and towns across the state are going through.’’
He could not provide a specific number of agency employees who will be laid off. For those who do lose their jobs, he said their last day will be Oct. 23.
Trevor Augustino - vice president of Local 2948 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, which represents many of the employees facing layoffs - said his union has proposed that the agency consider trimming more management positions.
“This is going to be a major hit, especially with spring fire seasons, ice storm cleanups, or any disasters,’’ he said. “I don’t know how they’re going to support all the duties they have.’’
He said his suggestions for more management cuts have been ignored.
Sullivan said that the agency is still deciding where the cuts will fall and that some managers will lose their jobs.
Annear and others said the cuts will mean fewer fire officials in lookout towers and brush fires that will probably spread more quickly than they would have otherwise.
“These cuts are going to have a huge impact,’’ said Paul Zbikowski, second vice president of the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts. “This is the number one topic on our agenda. We’re absolutely concerned about this.’’
David Abel can be reached at
dabel@globe.com.
