Current Events

Response to Val Fenti 4/5/09

Councilmember Fenti has repeatedly attacked the Canandaigua Career Firefighters with half truths and misinformation.  His guest essay in the March 26th Daily Messenger is akin to a Hollywood movie producer taking creative license to a true story.  Mr. Fenti is attempting to deflect attention from the fact that the City is not adequately protected.  The facts are simple.  Inadequate manpower equals a high cost of overtime. 

The City of Canandaigua commissioned a study from the Matrix Consulting Group in 2007. This study, which cost city residents $40,000 states the City needs to hire 5 to 15 more career firefighters.  It is quite clear that the minimum number of additional firefighters required is 5.  It goes on to state that if the City does not increase the ranks of interior qualified volunteer firefighters it would have to hire a total of 15 more career firefighters.  The study states, “The current deployment of resources raises some concerns.”  The reasons are too numerous to list but can be found on the City’s website under the fire study heading.

The City hired a second consultant to review the first consultant’s work.  This consultant, who is currently receiving a state pension and $50.00 an hour from the City of Canandaigua, states in his study of the study, “An interior attack in an environment ‘immediately dangerous to life and health’ may be limited to an attack further back from the source of the fire or from the outside until more firefighters arrive.”  This essentially means let the building burn.  The first consultant has fire service experts on staff; the second consultant is a finance specialist with no fire service expertise.  When the second consultant was asked at a City Council Committee meeting by firefighters what his expertise was, he replied “I have been to fires.”  The City’s message to the public - money before safety.

In a speech on March 16, 2009, United States Vice-President Joe Biden stated,

“I’ve read the studies conducted by the U.S. Fire Administration that found that most fire departments are unable to respond to many of the common emergencies with the existing staffing they have.  I read another study, the National Institute of Occupational Safety, which I referenced to you last time I spoke to you, that identified – and I want the public to hear this – the lack of staffing is the key cause of firefighter fatality.  Lack of staffing.” 

Mr. Fenti clearly does not know the first thing about firefighting if he cannot make the correlation between inadequate staffing, confusion, poor decisions and heart attacks. 

Mr. Fenti made a comparison between New York City and Canandaigua and the staffing levels of each.  New York City has 11,600 firefighters for a population of 8,000,000 people.  This equates to one firefighter per 690 residents.  Canandaigua has 15 career firefighters serving 16,000 residents.  This equates to one firefighter per 1066 residents.  New York City arrives at a structure fire with 3 engines, 2 ladders, a rescue and additional command staff.  The total number of fire fighters that arrive with this equipment is a minimum of 40.  Canandaigua arrives at a structure fire with 2 engines and a ladder with a total of 3 firefighters.  These firefighters and the public depend on the off-duty firefighters to arrive on-scene to even be able to begin fire suppression.  To Mr. Fenti, this is how off-duty firefighters enjoy their days off, by continuing to provide the residents of this community protection from fires and other emergencies. 

The fire that occurred on South Main Street is a prime example of this.  Of the 14 career firefighters that make up the department, 3 were on duty and 10 responded off-duty to the fire.  This is at the request of the City.  The City encourages off-duty firefighters to respond as a way to keep on-duty staffing levels low.  Then the firefighters are criticized for earning the overtime for their response to emergencies while off-duty.  At budget time, these numbers are then used against the fire department by some members of City Council.  The Daily Messenger headline on March 25th referring to the March 23rd Main Street fire speaks volumes; “Bystanders praised for fire heroics.”  If the department is currently adequately staffed as Mr. Fenti claims, then why did a civilian and a police officer have to help to lone firefighter who responded on the fire truck that day rescue multiple victims? The City cannot have its cake and eat it too.  Either pay for adequate staffing or pay the overtime.

The illusion that Mr. Fenti is under regarding an increase in volunteers can also be quickly dispelled.  According to the 2007 Fire Department annual report, there were 18 volunteer members of which 14 met the minimum departmental standard of responding to 25 calls out of about 900 calls for the year.  Seven of these members were considered interior firefighting qualified.  In 2008, there were 21 members with 14 of these members that met the 25 call minimum standard.  Seven of these members were also considered interior firefighting qualified.  This is not what would be considered a massive influx of interior qualified volunteer firefighters.

The total budget of the Fire Department is $2.4 million out of a $13 million overall City budget.  $637,000 of the $2.4 million is from contracts with the Town of Canandaigua and Ontario County.  City of Canandaigua taxpayers are paying $1.8 million for fire protection.  This is 14% of the overall budget yet City Council spends a disproportionate amount of time attempting to cut this service from the public.

Mr. Fenti also states the City does not need additional career firefighters.  This must only be his personal opinion and not that of the entire City Council since two different City Councils voted to apply for the SAFER grant for additional staffing.  In 2006, it voted to apply for 3 firefighters and in 2008 it voted to apply for 1 firefighter.  Both grants were to be awarded but were rejected by the City for financial reasons, not based on lack of need.  Councilmember Terwilliger stated at the March Council meeting that hiring only one firefighter will not solve the manpower issue so that is why he would vote down that portion of the grant.  It is important to note here that career firefighters are responsible for writing these grants.  It is not in their job descriptions but they do it because it benefits this community.  Since 2002, these firefighters have obtained over $600,000 in grants that have directly enhanced the protection the citizens of this community enjoy.

In most fire departments with career firefighters, there are enough firefighters on any particular shift to cover for illnesses and personal matters when firefighters need time off.  In Canandaigua, the department is so minimally staffed, there is no room for sickness or personal time according to administration.  Mr. Fenti enjoys using the 22 sick days per firefighter as public propaganda.  Here are the facts; two firefighters had major injuries, one to his shoulder and one to his knee requiring surgery and months of rehabilitation.  Another firefighter who has since retired, had several medical conditions that caused him to use his sick leave that he has accumulated over his 32 years of service.  If those three firefighters are removed from the statistics, the average sick time used in 2008 for the remaining 12 firefighters was 3.3 shifts.  It must also be noted that bereavement leave comes out of the firefighter’s sick leave and 4 firefighters lost members of their immediate families last year.  With a department that is so minimally staffed, any anomaly to the numbers will drastically change the statistics.  Firefighting is a demanding job and as firefighter’s age, injuries and illnesses become more severe and frequent.  A firefighter that is not 100% on a given day should not be protecting the public on that day. 

Since 1994, every career firefighter hired has lived in the fire district.  Only one of these firefighters has moved out of the district and he moved into a fire district that just transformed from an all volunteer fire department to a combination career/volunteer model.  What about other City employees?  The City Manager, Police Chief, Head of the DPW and second in command of the DPW all live outside of the City with City Council’s blessing.  Why are a few employees in a specific department being singled out by Mr. Fenti?

Mr. Fenti is very good at creative fact finding and reporting.  The citizens of this community deserve better representation than what Mr. Fenti is providing.  The public needs to be informed.