'Brownouts' start; city playing with fire?

THREE Fire Department engine companies - in North, West and Northeast Philadelphia - will be closed during the day today, the start of the city's "rolling brownouts."

Then, another North Philly engine company and a Chinatown ladder company will close during the night shift.

The Northeast Philly company, Engine 38, will remain closed for up to two years as a new firehouse is being built at its site.

The "rolling brownouts" - with three engine companies closed during the day shift, including Engine 38; and two engine companies, including Engine 38, and a ladder company closed during the night shift - are supposed to save the city money by reducing overtime costs.

But the local firefighters union says that the city is playing with fire, risking residents' safety.

"All these blackouts, brownouts will cause chaos," Bill Gault, president of Local 22 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said yesterday.

Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers and Everett Gillison, deputy mayor for public safety, said last week that the brownouts would not affect safety. The plan is expected to save $3.8 million in overtime.

Firefighters from the closed companies will be redeployed to other companies to fill in for those out sick or on vacation - slots normally filled through overtime - or will undergo training.

Today, Engine 34, on 28th Street near Thompson, in North Philly, and Engine 57, on Chestnut Street near 56th, in West Philly, will close during the day shift.

During the 14-hour night shift, which starts at 6 p.m., Engine 45, on 26th Street near York, in North Philly, and Ladder 23, on 10th Street near Cherry, in Chinatown, will close.

Engine 38, on Longshore Avenue near State Road, in the Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia, was previously demolished. The company has been operating out of Engine 33's station in Bridesburg, Gault said.

Bob Bedard, spokesman for Local 22, contended that the Fire Department did "no research" in deciding which companies to close.

Ayers previously said that companies selected to close were chosen based on factors including the size of the company and the number of fire and emergency calls to which it responds.