Indiana Fire Department to See Large-Scale Cutbacks

According to http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/news/fullstory/newsid/115609, the members of the Madison Township Fire Department located in Morgan County will see immense cutbacks toward their compensation, benefits, hours, and more.

The brave firefighters learned that these cutbacks include all of the following:

"1. All Fire Fighter pay has been reduced to minimum wage;
2. Daily staffing is reduced to from 9 to 5;
3. Station 32 is closed (8-30-10);
4. Fire Fighter paid hours are reduced to one 24 hour shift per week;
5. Health insurance for members and dependents will cease Oct. 1; and
6. No overtime or training for the remainder of the year."

Minimum wage at this point in time, according to the Department of Labor's website (click for link), is $7.25 per hour, which mathematically equals about $15,080 annual gross pay. To show as a comparison, members of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) make anually $43,074 as their starting pay.

The staffing cut from nine to five firefighters means that they'll barely have a full crew for one piece of apparatus. A crew generally consists of a driver, an officer, and three or four men who ride in the cab of the fire apparatus. This means, in essence, mutual aids for working structure fires will have to be called, and fire ground operations will be rendered hindered -- meaning lives may be at stake.

The closing of Station 32 means elongated response times to scenes, meaning help will be delayed to people in distress. The closing of stations seems to be a current epidemic, as cities such as Boston have closed a variety of their fire houses as well, making them rely on neighboring departments when an alarm comes in.

The lack of hours and health insurance for firefighters is a huge downfall, as firefighters have one of the most stressful and physically demanding jobs today.

The stopping of training is at the pinnacle of problems with the cutbacks, as training refreshes the minds of firefighters as to what to do in emergency situations, gets them accustomed to conducting emergency procedures in the correct manner (limited liability), and overall essentially is the backbone for learning how to save lives, as well as keeping themselves as safe as possible too. Hopefully training continues at least at the start of the new year.

These cutbacks, which take effect today, have been conducted due to financial restraints and hardship. As of right now, , there are 21 members in the Madison TownshipFire Department.

Source(s):
http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/news/fullstory/newsid/115609
http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm#Indiana