By Brian C. Louwers
C & G Staff Writer

WARREN — Philip Aiello said he wouldn’t have been holding a sign by the side of the road on March 8 if it weren’t for the Warren Fire Department.

Aiello, 62, has lived in Warren since 1953. He graduated from Lincoln High School, raised his family, and got the scare of his life when he suffered a major heart attack in 1996.

Without the quick, lifesaving efforts of the Fire Department paramedics who responded to his home near Station No. 1 on Nine Mile Road at Federal, Aiello said he’d probably be dead.

He came out with his wife and daughter, who joined others outside of the station on a sunny, late-winter afternoon to show their support for the Fire Department.  The Lincoln Neighborhood Association of South Warren organized the demonstration in response to the City Council’s recent decision to deny a request submitted by Fire Commissioner Wilburt “Skip” McAdams for additional overtime funding for the department.

With the budget for overtime depleted and falling deeper into the red as the fiscal year drags on, McAdams joined Mayor Jim Fouts last month to announce a plan to shut down Station No. 4, on Chicago Road east of Mound, and take vehicles out of service, including Engine 1 based at Nine and Federal, when manpower dips below levels needed to operate at full strength.

“They are a lifeline in this section of Warren,” Aiello said, holding a sign bearing the words “Save Our Fire Dept” and standing next to his family. “This isn’t a game. This is people’s lives.”

The Warren Fire Department currently has 116 uniformed personnel, down two from its full complement of 118, including commanders.  That number was expected to drop to 112 with four planned retirements this month.

McAdams said the city staffs 36 people on each of its three fire units, and that each unit works a 24-hour shift, with its members spread across the city’s six fire stations.

The commissioner said it takes a minimum of 33 people to staff all of the city’s firefighting equipment at full strength. Up to seven people can be on vacation on any given day, meaning that the city would have to call in at least four firefighters — and pay them overtime — to keep everything running.  Those calling in sick or on disability also would need to be replaced by someone on overtime in order to keep all vehicles manned at levels outlined in the city’s labor agreement with its union firefighters.

To avoid paying overtime, McAdams said the city’s plan would close Station No. 4 on any given day when unit staffing drops below 33. The entire station would close because Engine 4 is the only vehicle based at that location.

If the available number of firefighters for a unit on duty drops below 29, Engine 1 — based at Station No. 1 on Nine Mile east of Van Dyke — will be parked. When the number drops below 27, Rescue 6 at Station No. 6, on 12 Mile between Ryan and Dequindre, will be taken out of service.

James McDannel, vice president of the Lincoln Neighborhood Association, said shutting down a station and taking vehicles out of service has its risks, particularly at Station No. 1, which serves an area he said is bordered on two sides by railroad tracks.

McDannel and Kyle Atkins, the association’s president, held signs with the group’s other members as Warren fire vehicles from other stations crisscrossed the city along Nine Mile, their operators honking at those assembled.

“We support the firemen. The Lincoln Neighborhood Association is nonpolitical,” McDannel said. “We support our members and our community. We support the people who need it the most — neighbors helping neighbors.”

Inside Station No. 1, Fire Lt. Paramedic Leo Francis said the station had yet to see its engine taken out of service due to low staffing as of March 8. The engine, currently the only vehicle based at that firehouse, was out for maintenance at the time of the demonstration and was replaced with Truck 4.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Francis said of the gathering outside of the station. “It’s fantastic to see the support.”

For residents like Aiello and Charlie Shamie, the feeling is mutual.

“These guys have served me well with my wife. She has had to go into the hospital a couple of times,” said Shamie, 54, who lives about seven blocks from Station No. 1. “With the fire station closing, we may as well move into Detroit where we see the same level of service. That’s no service.”

A request put before the City Council to fund more than $462,000 in additional overtime for the Fire Department failed by a margin of 6-3 in early February, with council members Donna Caumartin, Pat Green, Mark Liss, Keith Sadowski, Scott Stevens and Kathy Vogt voting against the request. Stevens made a motion to reconsider the decision on Feb. 23, but his motion, which would have required six votes rather than a simple majority, fell by a margin of 5-4 with council members Robert Boccomino, Mary Kamp and Steve Warner joining Stevens in favor of the reconsideration.

McAdams said previously that he originally requested the added overtime funding last summer when he presented his budget request but that the council had trimmed his request by $300,000. He said the amount that was cut initially would have about equaled the additional appropriation he recently requested.

Barring any further reconsideration by the council, McAdams said the plan would likely remain in place for the duration of the fiscal year that ends on June 30.

You can reach Staff Writer Brian C. Louwers at brianlouwers@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1089.