Camden NJ layoffs

[TimesUp 148]

Interesting article. The City higher up's are using the surrounding departments to say there is still adequate fire coverage and there is no danger to the population. Would this happen in Westchester?

http://www.firehouse.com/news/top-headlines/layoffs-take-effect-struggling-new-jersey-city

[x635 4,066]

This happens every day in Westchester, due to poor staffing in some career departments, and difficulty staffing volunteer departments during the weekday hours. And because everyone wants in on the action.

Mutual aid is relied on for your everyday bread and butter fires that shouldn't need a mutual aid response.

I haven't heard anything recently (maybe that's a good thing?), but this is basically what Mount Vernon has done in the past. Used mutual aid as an excuse not to properly staff or equip their department.

As for Camden, that's one department that sees a lot of action. Like in Westchester, taxpayers are going to have to sacrifice their own fire protection and also pay for fire protection from another community.

Nobody outright says it...yet...but it does occur.

[sfrd18 360]

This is really a shame. A busy city like Camden losing one of, if not it's most important assets.

Adequate fire protection the city says? The city residents' taxes aren't paying for some other neighboring fire department to come in and put out it's own fires, while it's fire department is being torn apart by the city officials, nor is the neighboring town/city residents' taxes paying for it's departments to fight some other city's fires. And no danger to the city's residents? What happens if the neighboring town/city departments are at another fire in their own town/city, tied up, while there's a fire in Camden that the Camden FD can't respond to? What's the point in Camden having it's own fire department if a neighboring one is doing all the work for it. On top of that, the city's firefighters are getting laid-off, and the Camden Fire Department is losing companies to rolling brownouts everyday. The Camden Fire Department literally being discarded by it's own city. Great job City of Camden! Politicians really know the right way to cut costs.

Edited January 19, 2011 by sfrd18

[joetnymedic 43]

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110119/NEWS11/110119735

[Guest TCA-ALS25]

This is really a shame. A busy city like Camden losing one of, if not it's most important assets.

Adequate fire protection the city says? The city residents' taxes aren't paying for some other neighboring fire department to come in and put out it's own fires, while it's fire department is being torn apart by the city officials, nor is the neighboring town/city residents' taxes paying for it's departments to fight some other city's fires. And no danger to the city's residents? What happens if the neighboring town/city departments are at another fire in their own town/city, tied up, while there's a fire in Camden that the Camden FD can't respond to? What's the point in Camden having it's own fire department if a neighboring one is doing all the work for it. On top of that, the city's firefighters are getting laid-off, and the Camden Fire Department is losing companies to rolling brownouts everyday. The Camden Fire Department literally being discarded by it's own city. Great job City of Camden! Politicians really know the right way to cut costs.

Long before Mayor "Blood" Redd decided to gut Camden, a merger of the Camden City FD, Gloucester City FD and Pennsauken FD was being looked at, not unlike the North Bergen Regional FD.

BTW, side note: Philadelphia FD's company brown outs are being written off by our illustrious mayor like this: "well, companies go out of service for training every day and no one is being put in danger when that happens..."

Ri-i-ight! No company goes OOS for training for an entire shift!

[nfd2004 750]

This is really a shame. A busy city like Camden losing one of, if not it's most important assets.

Adequate fire protection the city says? The city residents' taxes aren't paying for some other neighboring fire department to come in and put out it's own fires, while it's fire department is being torn apart by the city officials, nor is the neighboring town/city residents' taxes paying for it's departments to fight some other city's fires. And no danger to the city's residents? What happens if the neighboring town/city departments are at another fire in their own town/city, tied up, while there's a fire in Camden that the Camden FD can't respond to? What's the point in Camden having it's own fire department if a neighboring one is doing all the work for it. On top of that, the city's firefighters are getting laid-off, and the Camden Fire Department is losing companies to rolling brownouts everyday. The Camden Fire Department literally being discarded by it's own city. Great job City of Camden! Politicians really know the right way to cut costs.

Thst sure is well said there "sfrd18". And maybe we've heard this before but mutual aid is just that. Not a One Way, but a Two Way Street.

Long before Mayor "Blood" Redd decided to gut Camden, a merger of the Camden City FD, Gloucester City FD and Pennsauken FD was being looked at, not unlike the North Bergen Regional FD.

BTW, side note: Philadelphia FD's company brown outs are being written off by our illustrious mayor like this: "well, companies go out of service for training every day and no one is being put in danger when that happens..."

Ri-i-ight! No company goes OOS for training for an entire shift!

Training a company is required to protect the people of the neighborhood. Brownouts takes that trained company away from those people they are to protect.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-january-19-2011/main-st--anytown-u-s-a-

[NJMedic 96]

I know several guys who work in Camden and basically Camden should just fold its door. The City can barely provide essential services, half the PD was laid off along with 30% of the firefighting resources. The closed two libraries and gave the third to the County. Not even the Battle Ship New Jersey could say the City. The Garden Staten Acquarium nor a concert venue can bring enough people in. The lost the distinction as the most dengerous city in the US to St Louis last year, I guess they will win back that distinction this year. Many of elected position have been jailed on official misconduct or corruption over the last several years. The PD layoffs effected guys with 13 years on the job.

[lt411 145]

Long before Mayor "Blood" Redd decided to gut Camden, a merger of the Camden City FD, Gloucester City FD and Pennsauken FD was being looked at, not unlike the North Bergen Regional FD.

BTW, side note: Philadelphia FD's company brown outs are being written off by our illustrious mayor like this: "well, companies go out of service for training every day and no one is being put in danger when that happens..."

Ri-i-ight! No company goes OOS for training for an entire shift!

Unfortunately this is not true for FDNY. There are many companies shut-down /closed/browned-out for the day tours during the week. These companies are scheduled for "educational day at the "Rock" and for company medicals at the Bureau of Health Services (BHS). Any members scheduled to work those tours that have recently had their medicals or annual training day, are detailed out to other companies. Rumor has it that the companies OOS on those day tours may be the companies that will also be closed on that night tour, if Bloomberg's "20 companies closed at night" proposal goes through.