First Houston FD `Brownout` Idles 15 Responders

March 22--Three Houston firetrucks were pulled from service Friday morning, the first "brownout" in the city's fire fleet since the Houston Fire Department's budget struggles came to light in early February.

In keeping with a plan Fire Chief Terry Garrison announced last month that called for trucks in areas with lower call volumes and more nearby stations to be idled first, department brass decided to park Engines 45, 77 and 78. In all, 15 positions were left vacant Friday, including one of the five spots on the department's heavy rescue truck and a district chief post.

"Our firefighters will continue to do the best job they can and they'll ensure firefighter safety and customer service to the best of their ability, but ... the quicker we get to an incident, the quicker we can start stabilizing that incident, whether it's a house fire or a heart attack," Garrison said. "We wanted to make sure we had the least amount of impact, but there will be a slight impact."

Mayor Annise Parker said she expects the fire department will effectively handle the situation.

"We have every faith in the Houston Fire Department that they will be able to make the necessary adjustments and handle each call efficiently and effectively," she said.

The department has been struggling with overtime costs for months, driven by a staffing shortage and the way firefighters take time off. Some hurdles caused by the firefighters union contract were overcome in a deal between the union and City Council earlier this month that both sides hoped would avert brownouts but that all acknowledged provided no guarantees.

Prior to the deal, HFD had been on pace to exceed its $447 million budget by $10.5 million, about $8.5 million of which was overtime paid to firefighters called in to fill vacant shifts.

The pact saw firefighters' ability to take time off greatly restricted for the rest of the fiscal year in exchange for a 2 percent raise and a $975 lump-sum payment. Despite the agreement, however, officials said staffing during spring break has been a particular challenge.

"We all knew spring break would have an impact, but I don't think anybody is doing anything wrong or abusing anything," Bryan Sky-Eagle, president of Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 341, said Friday. "I do want to let (the public) know it's not that you're not protected and that you don't have firetrucks, but for today, this one in this community is not available."

The engines idled Friday were at Station 45, on McCarty in northeast Houston just outside Loop 610; Station 77, at Kempwood and Gessner; and Station 78, at Memorial and Eldridge.

"Just in the last few days, I've heard Engine 77 passing near our house responding to a number of calls, so we know it provides a lot of service to our neighborhood," said Spring Shadows Civic Association president John McReynolds. "Allocation of resources is a management duty; it's certainly not the firemen's problem and it's not the residents of Spring Shadows' problem. This would start at the mayor and work down the chain of command."

Councilman Oliver Pennington, whose District G is home to Station 78, said he was disappointed.

"Everyone knew spring break was coming up when this agreement was made," Pennington said. "Any time you run short of money, there's always a chance for crisis. People really need to pay attention. Hopefully, we can plan better for the next holiday."

When the city-union deal was approved, officials said all trucks would remain in service as long as HFD averaged fewer than 35 unexpected absences, such as sick days and emergency leave, per day. Friday, there were 42 such absences, including 28 sick days.

"We feel like people are going to think we're browning out because too many people called in sick," Executive Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann said Friday. "Well, today I had 927 people that were assigned, and only 28 called in sick. That's 3 percent. So, it's more a factor of we're just short-staffed. We need to get our staffing levels up."

Mann estimates the department is about 190 firefighters short of the 3,570 needed to most efficiently run its emergency operations division.

HFD will graduate two cadet classes this month, adding 90 firefighters, but 40 members will be removed from the rotation to begin paramedic training, an area where the staffing shortage is particularly acute.

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