Pocono News Section

Fewer Firefighters & Trucks on the Streets in Dunmore

Fewer Firefighters & Trucks on the Streets in Dunmore - Monday, February 15, 2010 at 5:46PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Monday, Feb 15, 2010 @ 05:46pm EST
DUNMORE, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - Budget problems in one Lackawanna County community means fewer firefighters will now be on the streets responding to calls.

Starting Monday morning, cuts in fire services took effect in the borough of Dunmore. Council members recently approved a significant tax increase which calls for cuts in fire services. Those cuts took effect at 7:00 AM Monday morning. Its a move that has left some burning mad.

Right now, the borough of Dunmore has a total of three fire trucks. Losing one of them is a big hit.

"The first five minutes of a fire usually makes the difference between living or dying for the people inside. If we don't get to you in the first five minutes, we're not gonna get to you alive," firefighter's union president Dominick Rinaldi said.

In addition to being down one truck, there will also now be fewer firefighters responding to calls. Instead of five full-time firefighters answering calls, in most cases, there will now only be three.

When coming upon a fire scene, that will have a big impact. One of the firefighters stays on the hydrant while another works as a pump operator. That leaves only one person to go into burning buildings.

"If you're in a house, how are we supposed to get to you? How are we, how am I supposed to throw a ladder by myself?" Rinadi asked. "How am I supposed to kick in the door and do a search and pull a hose in?"

Borough council has been struggling with ways to pay for its fire protection for quite a while. Budget problems in the borough are nothing new. In May, voters may be faced with a referendum question asking them to pay for fire services.

Knowing lives are at risk, firefighters themselves have already been trying to help but to no avail," Rinaldi said.

"We've been providing the borough with suggestions up to this point," Rinaldi said. "Everything from doing our healthcare, looking at our healthcare package to looking at who provides us the healthcare."

Efforts to get in touch with borough council members was unsuccessful Monday afternoon. Many taxpayers we talked to said they did not know about the fire service cuts. They did not want to appear on camera.