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| ..... The opinions expressed in these articles and features are those of their author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of McANA or the opinion of its Directors or Officers. |
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Mike Reeves What consolidation means to Local 416 On November 15th, 1977, I was hired as a career firefighter for the Town of Speedway. It was no secret back then that since my dad was on the Indianapolis Fire Department, I would try and get hired by them. Many of the old timers (firemen with time on the job) said that if I would wait long enough all of us would be Indianapolis Fire Firefighters because of consolidation. Well I am not sure, but I think almost 27years is long enough. Consolidation plans are not new and stories of finishing Unigov have been around for a long time. Senator Lugar, Mayor Hudnut and Mayor Goldsmith all had plans to complete Unigov but, politically, they didn’t take on the task. I have been told that Bert SerVaas, a longtime City County Councilor since retired, even helped create a plan back in the early 1970’s. As President of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Professional Fire Fighters Local 416, I personally support consolidation as long as the members of Local 416 and the citizens we serve don’t get hurt. I have been asked many times over the past few weeks what is my official position? I will let my membership that I represent guide me. I am concerned about staffing of all the fire apparatus we use; all fire engines and ladder trucks should respond with 4 firefighters to effectively operate on the fire ground. Job seniority, vacancy bidding, health insurance, fire-based EMS, along with creating a time line to allow this to happen, all needs to have specific plans. Depending on how these issues are dealt with will be the deciding factor whether we truly support the Indianapolis Works Plan. I recently spoke to a Township Fire Chief that wanted to know why his department wasn’t sent on a major fire just a short distance away. Another story is why wasn’t a fire-based ambulance sent on an emergency call when just across a township border an ambulance sat in service. Consolidation will take away boundary lines that keep certain stations in the county from responding on fire and EMS runs, even though they would have a quicker response time. Please don’t let stories about the Indianapolis Fire Department Firefighters coming in and taking over affect your opinion. The Mayor’s office has told me that he still wants the Township stations to keep their identity. Indy firefighters feel the same way. Many of us have established great relationships with community leaders and activists within the areas that we serve. We are one Union and know the true facts and the fires are still dangerous and need to be extinguished in Warren, Pike, Indy or wherever they are burning. I will leave it to the politicians to fight whether or not this will be a savings for taxpayers, but I want to be there if a plan is designed to be sure the safety and well-being of all firefighters are the number one concern. We can make a difference if we are involved in the beginning and not at the tail end when all the decisions have been made before us. send comments
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2004
