CFD makes adjustments to staff new station
The department was unable to fill four vacancies due to budget issues.
Published Sept. 15, 2009
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Betsy Kuckuk prepares her lunch Monday in Mark Twain Market dining hall. Campus Dining Services is discussing implementing a waste management program with the Missouri Students Association and the Residence Halls Association.
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A new firestation is being built on Blue Ridge and Providence roads to replace the station on Orr Street. Fire Station No. 2 will be closing in the upcoming fiscal year due to budget constraints.
Budget constraints for the upcoming fiscal year will require the Columbia Fire Department to occasionally shut down one of the two companies located at Fire Station No. 2 and transfer personnel to Fire Station No. 9.
Set to begin operations around Dec. 1, Fire Station No. 9, located at 210 Blue Ridge Road, requires 11 personnel in order to fully staff the station in rotations of three fire fighters, a CFD news release stated.
The release also stated since 2006, Columbia has made progress in hiring the necessary additional fire fighters in preparation for the opening of Fire Station No. 9.
CFD Battalion Chief Steven Sapp said though the city was able to hire some of the desired personnel, budget constraints in fiscal year 2009 left them without the necessary resources to fill four vacancies. These vacancies include two of the fire fighters they still need to staff Fire Station No. 9 and two unexpected vacancies due to retirements within the department.
"Unfortunately, as the city manager has talked and so has the City Council, the money just isn't there," Sapp said. "So we will not be hiring any fire fighters for this fiscal year 2010, which begins Oct. 1, for staffing."
With four unfilled firefighter jobs, the city and the fire department have been forced to consider alternative plans for how to operate nine stations instead of eight, starting in December.
"With 35 people on duty each day, we can staff all the companies and not have to shut down Engine company 2," Sapp said.
According to the news release, if it is ever necessary to transfer personnel from Fire Station No. 2 to Fire Station No. 9, all of the nine fire stations will still be open and operational.
"On days when our staffing falls below 35, we will close down Engine (company) 2, not Station No. 2," Sapp said. "We are not closing down any fire stations; we are simply moving personnel from a two company station to a single company station."
With the opening of Station No. 9, the Fire Department hopes to maintain and improve on response times for calls originating from the north-central part of Columbia, a city of Columbia news release stated.
This area has experienced "rapid residential growth over the past several years," so it is an ideal location for the new fire station, the news release stated.
Columbia Professional Firefighters President Brad Fraizer said the desire to improve response times and improve the quality of support the Fire Department can give is great enough that fire fighters are willing to do whatever they need to do to get Station No. 9 open.
"We are glad to do whatever we need to do to get Station 9 open," Fraizer said. "If in this case it means closing down Engine 2 and relocating those crews to Station 9, we are 100 percent behind that."