Vancouver is poised to accept a federal grant that would reopen Fire Station 6, but the city council found out on Monday that no firehouse is free.
The city has moved into the next round of consideration for a $2.3 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant that would allow Vancouver to hire 13 new firefighters and restaff its closed fire station. But in order to proceed, the city council had to answer two basic questions from federal officials: Would they accept the money if it were offered? And, would they commit to keeping their staff at 165 members until the grant expires in two years?
Ultimately, a majority of them said yes, and the city will be told if it gets the SAFER grant anywhere from spring to late fall. The council will then vote to say if it accepts the money, Interim Fire Chief Joe Molina said.
But with a projected deficit of $2 million to $4 million over the next two years, and an unresolved labor contract with the firefighters’ union that likely won’t be resolved until early summer, the mayor and several councilors seemed wary of getting in too deep. No layoffs in the fire department for two years — and the possibility that the cost of firefighters’ salaries and benefits could increase — means the cuts would have to happen in already deeply cleaved areas.
“I have reservations on moving forward and on the timing of this,” Mayor Tim Leavitt said. “If arbitration goes the way our fire suppression unit would like it to go, we’re going to have to make layoffs in other departments. Other departments are going to have to take a hit.”
Among the other potential downsides: The grant would not cover the $190,000 two-year operation costs of reopening Fire Station 6, nor would it pay the $180,000 in training and equipment costs for the 13 new staff members. Those 13 firefighters would also only be guaranteed a job for two years, as the grant does not require Vancouver to keep them on after the SAFER grant expires.
Molina and City Manger Eric Holmes went over the bind that accepting the grant could put the city in, and Holmes said he still ultimately recommends that the city accept the grant if it’s chosen. He called it a “bridge” to restore a key service temporarily while the city works out what it can do to make its fire department, and all its other departments, stable.
Councilor Bart Hansen also asked Molina if response times to emergency calls around Station 6, at 3216 N.E. 112th Ave., went up in January, the first month the station was shuttered. Molina responded that compared with January of last year, average response times have gone up by 3 minutes and 48 seconds — from 5 minutes and 12 seconds to 9 minutes.
The fire department is already putting together a list of eligible and interested candidates, so they could hire quickly once the grant is awarded. Molina said he’s worked to cut training times down, so that the new recruits could be at Station 6 within two to four months of hiring.
The Vancouver Firefighters Union, Local No. 452 sent a letter to the mayor and council Monday, expressing their support for the SAFER grant. Signed by union president Mark Johnston, the letter sought to “assure the city council that we will participate in a meaningful and constructive way to engage our community in the effort to secure stable and adequate funding for fire and EMS protection.”
They also said they look forward to “working with the city manager… to make the case that fire and EMS response must be adequately funded.”
Vancouver and its firefighters have deadlocked on a contract. Negotiations are set to go before a state arbitrator, with a decision expected by summer.
