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Nutter Closes 7 Philly Fire Companies
By Wyatt Earp | January 5, 2009
Wow, he actually did it, and there is little - if any - uproar from the media. Unbelievable. Captain America has been all over this story.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) - Five Philadelphia fire engine and two ladder companies said their goodbyes Monday after they were closed in the wake of a city budget crisis.
The seven fire companies were closed just after 8 a.m. as the city hopes the move will save $10 million a year in overtime.
Among those companies closed was Engine 8 at 4th and Arch Streets, the oldest fire company in the United States which was founded by Benjamin Franklin.
The Nutter administration said they do not plan to close any fire houses and firefighters in the closed companies will be reassigned.
Eh, what? HE JUST CLOSED SEVEN COMPANIES TODAY, BUT HE IS SAYING HE DOES NOT PLAN TO CLOSE ANY FIRE HOUSES??? WHERE ARE THE FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS, PHILLY MEDIA??? Does Nutter plan to keep these fire houses “open,” but empty?
“The city is safe. This plan was done by professionals in the department who have been in burning buildings themselves and developed with their expertise and 100 years of firefighting,” Nutter said. (H/T - CBS3)
So when people start dying because of the slower fire response, can we charge Nutter with involuntary manslaughter? It’s something to think about.
Strangely enough, if you check the map you’ll see that Nutter closed ZERO fire stations in his neighborhood. None. If he was really convinced that this insane plan is safe, he would have closed a few stations near his home. This little nugget also makes me wonder if the closing decisions have a racial bias to them. Every one of these neighborhoods is predominantly white. Nutter and Ayers are African-American. I’m not saying race was definitely involved, but it makes for an interesting question.
In a sane world, this would be the death knell for Nutter’s re-election campaign. But this is Philadelphia, and in a few years Nutter will be re-elected in a landslide.
“Town needs an enema!” - The Joker
Topics: Philly |
January 5th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Meanwhile, the city pays millions of dollars to “maintain” (by which I mean ignore until someone sues them) the abandoned homes and lots it owns and refuses to sell to developers.
Elected officials making $100k + drive around in city cars, and the local media has an orgasm because a few dozen people protest the closing of underutilized libraries
Gotta love those priorities.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Proving once again, that when morons are allowed to vote, we all loose.
January 5th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
So the PROFESSIONALS said everyone would be safe. Right.. What is next police stations.
January 5th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
How soon before one of these empty fire stations goes up in flames?
January 5th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Those idjits priorities are TOTALLY out of whack… sigh… And yes people will die and the city SHOULD be sued!
January 5th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
It just amazes me that a judge thwarted the closing of libraries (necessary, yes, but so is public freakin’ safety!) and nothing was done for the fire stations. There is precious little time to save lives in the event of a fire. Idiots (well, I’d call them worse, but your aunt reads this).
January 5th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
The left, over the past 60 years has managed to bring the birthplace of freedom to it’s knees.
They have driven out business, increased crime, punished the producers, taxed their citizens to death, and still can’t figure out why they are losing people to the suburbs.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Joe Mama - Police Commissioner Ramsey has three - count ‘em, THREE - vehicles assigned to him. A marked car, a marked SUV, and an unmarked car. I’m still waiting - a year later - to hear the Philly media mention that excessive waste.
John D - Morons, thy name is the average Philadelphia voter.
Old Soldier - One of our deputy commissioners had to release a department-wide memo stating that there would not be police layoffs. the fact that they had to issue such a memo means that the rumors were based on some fact.
Doghouse - I imagine the vandalism will begin almost at once.
Old NFO - I am not one for lawsuits, but I would implore any victim’s family to sue the pants off the city for a fire death in one of these area. Won’t make us any better or worse off fiscally, since we can’t sink much further.
RT - Aunt Helene appreciates it. The libraries are important - Lord knows the missus takes the kids there all the time - but not as important as fire stations. There are plenty of other city programs that could have closed instead.
Formercorpsman - It’s getting worse, believe me.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
O.K. I’ll admit to being lost here. They claim they will save close to $10 million in overtime by closing these companies, but they plan on reassigning all the firefighters somewhere else. So where is all this saved money exactly coming from?
January 5th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
E.L. - That would be a great question for Captain America, because I sadly cannot answer it. At least not with an answer other than “It’s b.s.”
January 6th, 2009 at 6:32 am
My son liked to visit the Engine 8 station after the Firemen’s Hall Museum, the guys there were really nice about letting him check out the fire trucks. He even has an Engine 8 T- shirt, it’s a damn shame.
I think a better way to save money would be to lay off some of the clerical workers that have been in city hall for 20 years and haven’t done any work in the past 15.
January 6th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Let me guess; the Philly fire union hasn’t been down-the-line ‘Rat lately.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:01 am
It is Nutter’s plan for urban renewal, when it burns down.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
“Town needs an enema”. LOL & perfect diagnosis Wyatt and you never even had to go to med school.
January 6th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
We had a mayor who wanted to close the Art Museum a couple days a week, to save having to pay minimum wage to the guards. This at a time when that museum brought in more revenue dollars than the stadiums did as rock concert venues, and without the threat of rowdiness by the patrons(although those Cezanne freaks can get down).
We also had a mayor who wanted to shut off street lights to save budget $s. Can we say London After Midnight?
Shutting firehouses is just continuing a shameful Philly tradition.
January 6th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Easily lost:
You forget when a political drone gives you a “cost saving”, they just made the number up.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Mrs. Crankipants - There are puh-lenty of unnecessary employees roaming City Hall at all times of the day. Trust me, I have to puch past them when I go to court.
Steveegg - Give the man a cigar!
Admiral - As long as it’s not in his neighborhood. Luckily for him, he didn’t close any stations in his neighborhood.
AJ - Looks like that college degree is transferrable to med school!
Lergnom - We’re #1! We’re #1!