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BFD Temporarily Closing Stations to Save Money

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Jul 1, 2009 2:33 pm US/Eastern

BFD Temporarily Closing Stations to Save Money

Reporting
Sera Congi
BOSTON (WBZ) ― The Boston Fire Department has begun a cost cutting practice called "brown outs," a move which temporarily closes fire stations.

The following fire companies were left unstaffed today:

  • Engine 56 - East Boston
  • Engine 20 - Dorchester
  • Ladder 18 - South Boston

Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser says the move is designed to help keep overtime costs in check without having to lay-off or demote any firefighters and/or permanently close down firehouses.

In the past, the department paid overtime to firefighters who covered for sick colleagues. Rather than pay the overtime, those ladder companies will no longer be staffed.

Union officials call the brown outs a dangerous practice that slows down response time to fire emergencies.

Fraser assures the public that each fire station has adequate back-up.

The department says the number of brown outs instituted per day will be determined by the number of firefighters who call in sick and have to be covered.

The BFD has used brown outs in the past when firefighters were sent for training.

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