Budget passes; mayor says fire companies will close

Three fire companies in Baltimore City will be disbanded -- permanently -- next week.

It's part of the mayor's budget, which cleared its final hurdles Monday night.

But the mayor said it's time to move forward without them.

Truck 10 in West Baltimore, Truck 15 in East Baltimore and Squad 11 in Southeast Baltimore will be out of service for good.

Baltimore's City Council President, Bernard “Jack” Young, voted against the budget, calling the losses "devastating.”

“I do not support this budget,” he said.  “I do not think this budget lives up to the promises of providing a better Baltimore to every man woman and child.”

But the budget got its final stamps approval from the board of estimates and the City Council.

Since 2009, three different city fire companies have been out of service every night.  The mayor says replacing that system with the permanent closures will save money because now, those three trucks can be taken out of service.

“The equipment is still in play. With the company closures the equipment is not in play,” said Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

And she says those companies will be replaced with ambulance units.  “Over 80 percent of the calls that come into the fire department are for EMS equipment,” she said.  “And we made sure that we are expanding the ems equipment throughout the city.”

Rick Hoffman, the head of Baltimore City's firefighters union thought discussions over saving at least one of those companies were still going on.  “I mean the budget's passed and hopefully we have enough wiggle room in there to get a company or two open,” he said.

But that's not the message from Mayor Rawlings-Blake.  “It's a ludicrous plan," Hoffman said.

There will not be lay-offs in the fire department.  The firefighters who work on those three companies will be moved to other stations around the city.