Sinnott Says He Will Close Firehouse
 Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott says he will have to close one of the city's six firehouses to comply with a court order. CLICK FOR VIDEO He said the closing will happen within the next month. The ruling by Erie County Judge Shad Connelly upholds an arbitration ruling on mandatory staffing levels. The ruling requires the city to add one firefighter to each rig, and end the practice of dual companies, crews that respond in either an engine or aerial truck. Sinnott says keeping the current system and complying with the order would mean adding about 24 firefighters at a cost of about $1.7 million. He said the city can't afford that, so instead he will close a firehouse. He will decided which facility to close by the end of this week. He maintains safety will not be sacrificed. Sinnott said, "We're not losing any firefighters just redeploying them onto different engines so i think the level of safety will not be compromised. So we're just trying to do the best we can." The Vice-President of Firefighters Local 293, Al Zimmerman said"Closing a firehouse, it is our belief that will jeopardize citizen safety. It will definitely slow down response times. We believe there are other options than closing down a firehouse." The union hopes to talk about options with Mayor Sinnott and Fire Chief Tony Pol. But it is not clear if a meeting will take place. |