Firefighters will wait to see if report is taken seriously

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2001 | 10:30 a.m.

Clark County firefighters trust a recently conducted study validating concerns that they are under-staffed, poorly equipped and lack some training will be taken seriously by administrators.

But despite promises from Chief Earl Greene Tuesday, union members are leery of what will become of the study.

Greene agreed to begin making improvements that do not require funding, such as reviewing policies regarding response times and filling training vacancies with existing staff members.

After Tuesday's Clark County Commission meeting, during which the board accepted the study, union members agreed to quell their enthusiasm until they see some action.

"We've all seen reports done," Ray Ireland, president of the firefighters' union, said. "We just don't want it to collect dust on a shelf."

The $216,000 study, administered by Deloitte & Touche and paid with county funds, compared Clark County's department to six cities and counties of comparable size. But because it failed to compare budgets and funding, commissioners postponed consultants' recommendations that involve money.

"We need to look at the big picture here, and the big picture is not here," Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates said.

Deloitte & Touche's survey shows Clark County handles more calls with fewer crews and less equipment than the other entities, which included Anaheim, Calif., Honolulu, Jacksonville, Fla., Orange County, Fla., Phoenix and the city of Las Vegas.

Clark County's crew of 245 firefighters is smaller than the staff in Las Vegas and has half the number of firefighters employed by Honolulu.

Each Clark County fire truck serves about 21,000 residents, the highest ratio of the entities surveyed. The next highest ratio was in Anaheim, where each truck serves 16,000.

The department requires the highest number of training hours, but its ratio of training staff to emergency crew members is one of the lowest of the six departments. Clark County also has less stringent prerequisites than the others.

Greene promised to promptly introduce programs that will, for example, address education, training and employee grievances. When Deloitte & Touche returns in September with budget comparisons, commissioners said they would begin looking for money to fund more personnel, fire stations and equipment.

Commissioners have already adopted a plan to build a new fire station each year for the next decade.

"We can't do the entire thing, but we can immediately start fazing in with policies that have no fiscal impact," Commissioner Myrna Williams said. "Then we're saying, 'Ok, we're on the road, let's move on to other matters that have a fiscal impact."

Union members who packed half the chambers exploded with cheers each time the board committed to taking action rather than commissioning more reports, research or studies.

After the meeting Greene said the union and administration was working closely together for the first time he could remember in his 28 years with the division.

"I'm excited because the union and managers are on the same page," Greene said. "We agreed together on how to have a plan of attack."

Appearing to sense that union members might be leery of Greene's commitment, Commission Chairman Dario Herrera urged the fire chief to follow through with his promise.

"Let's take care of the issues put on the table today ... and not put them off," Herrera said.