YOUNGSTOWN Tax is a hot issue for city firefighters

Residents will get the response time they vote for, Fire Chief John O'Neill says.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Laid-off firefighter Justin Durkin wonders if his new baby boy (due Sunday) will grow up here.
Realistically, if the 0.5 percent income tax fails in November, Durkin knows more layoffs will take place, and he'll have to look elsewhere for work.
"I would absolutely have to move," the 25-year-old firefighter said Wednesday.
Durkin grew up on the city's West Side surrounded by firefighters -- father, uncle and cousin.
"I love doing it; it's something in the blood," he said. "We take an oath to protect. We don't want to see anyone get hurt. It's a brotherhood."
Durkin quit as a minor league umpire and joined the fire department Sept. 30, 2000. He's been laid off since early August.
He and his wife, Heather, bought a house in the city. They're eager to bring home a baby boy, even though 6-year-old Kayley wanted a sister.
"The layoff has been very hard. My health insurance is almost as much as my unemployment check," Durkin said. "Do you know what it costs to have a baby these days?"
The city, he said, needs to pull together.
Response times
Fire Chief John J. O'Neill Jr. crunched some numbers to use when he and Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr. speak to block watch meetings about passage of the income tax. If it passes, the tax will make it possible to recall laid-off firefighters and police officers.
O'Neill said he checked response time for two stations -- No. 12 on McGuffey Road and No. 15 on McCollum Road. He used three weeks in August 2001 and compared it to the same period this year.
Last year, firefighters' average response time from No. 12 on the East Side was 3 minutes, 39 seconds. This year, it's 5 minutes for stations that respond to calls that would have been handled by No. 12.
Firefighters responding to fires for No. 15 on the West Side take, on average, 5 minutes, 11 seconds to get to a fire. Last year, No. 15's response time was 3 minutes, 7 seconds.
"Fires are up ... we've been blasted," O'Neill said.
He suspects the knowledge that the department is short-handed accounts for more arsons. A slower response time means that flames from a burning vacant house may spread to occupied houses nearby, he said.
Damage
From Aug. 10 to Sept. 30, 2001, the city had 51 structure fires and 16 other fires. For that period this year, the city had 83 structure fires and 10 other fires.
The dollar loss went from $371,340 for the time period last year to $474,006 this year, he said. Firefighter injuries jumped from six last year to 12 this year.
Residents, he said, will get the response time they vote for. O'Neill said he won't present doom and gloom when he speaks to block watch meetings, just the facts.
The city, which now has an insurance rating of Class 3, with Class 1 being the best, could see that erode if the tax doesn't pass, the fire chief said.
The fire department lost 13 firefighters to attrition before lay-offs took place in early August. It has 120 firefighters on staff and three off with long-term injuries, O'Neill said.
Full staffing would be 148 firefighters.