Firefighters? Who needs them? 300 to be axed

The Toronto Star:

The Toronto fire department is the latest organization to brace for deep downsizing as Mayor Rob Ford’s administration presses for a smaller workforce.

Sources say Chief Bill Stewart recently submitted a report to the budget committee stating 22 trucks — about 300 firefighters — would need to be pulled off the road to meet the mayor’s reduction target.

A cut of that size would mean a 16 per cent service reduction, which union leaders say will send insurance rates up and put lives at risk.

“It’s going to be devastating. They’re playing Russian roulette with people’s lives,” said Ed Kennedy, president of the Toronto Professional Firefighters Association.

Toronto Fire is already spread dangerously thin and understaffed compared with other municipalities, he said.

It’s a claim that seems to be supported by the KPMG core service review, which found that “Toronto has fewer vehicles deployed per capita than other cities in Ontario.”

KPMG also found Toronto’s travel time to calls is 24 per cent longer than the council-approved target. This will only get worse if even more teams are pulled off the road, Kennedy said.

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