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The mayor wants to add 100 new police officers to improve public safety but nowhere did he mention adding firefighters. The fire department has lost over 40 positions going from a high of 47 on duty down to 36 each day. That is the same manning level as in 1986, when there were eight fire stations and today there are 12.
Call volume was 3,000 calls then, over 23,000 today. Response times have suffered greatly. The department went from saving an effective response force arriving on scene over 90 percent of the time down to less than 50 percent today.
Currently the city enjoys an ISO rating of a two. When that is re-evaluated we will be lucky to maintain a four and possibly be a five. Fire insurance rates will go up for everyone, residential to commercial.
