By Jim Lockwood
The Times-Tribune
SCRANTON, Pa. — Scranton’s firefighters union raised concerns about the city having the Fire Department respond in certain fire situations in the North Pocono, Moosic and Old Forge areas in Lackawanna County and to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Luzerne County.
Allen Lucas, the president of the Local 60 chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters, raised the issue Tuesday during Scranton City Council’s weekly meeting.
Reached for comment Wednesday, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said mutual aid between the city Fire Department and other local fire departments has occurred for decades and the city will continue to develop and update such agreements.
Lucas told council that firefighters received emails Friday from the Cognetti administration saying the Fire Department now is going to respond to Moscow in the North Pocono area on third-alarm structure fires, to the Moosic and Old Forge areas on structure fires, and to the airport on an increased alarm at the request of Luzerne County.
Lucas’ concerns as union president included: whether firefighter workloads would increase and require increased staffing; whether response times would increase; and whether safety of firefighters and the public might be compromised.
“We got blindsided by this, the union. We had no idea. There was no talks. There was no communication. We have no idea what their plans are,” Lucas said. “It’s sad I have to come to you guys and air this public laundry out and it shouldn’t be this way.”
Lucas also expressed concerns as a city taxpayer, asking whether his tax dollars paid to the city would go to areas that have volunteer fire departments, not paid fire departments. He asked if the city would get reimbursed for firefighting services and who would pay medical bills if a Scranton firefighter were to be injured responding to a fire outside the city or require long-term care.
Council members said they would ask the administration for answers to all of the questions.
“I’m OK with assisting as long as it’s done right, as long as the men affected the most, and the ladies, of the Fire Department, have a seat at the table and are part of this discussion. From what I received in this email, it’s not happening,” Councilman Mark McAndrew said. “Are they staffed adequately to take on more responsibility outside of the city?”
Cognetti’s statement to The Times-Tribune on the issue said: “The City of Scranton has provided and accepted mutual aid for decades. It is imperative that public safety entities share resources when needed to keep residents safe in their communities. The City has had longstanding agreements in place with the Newton Ransom Twp. Fire Department for coverage in Ransom Twp., mutual aid to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Airport, and Tobyhanna Army Depot. Many of these have been in place for decades. The City has mutual aid resources identified on our box alarms from Chinchilla , Clarks Summit , Taylor , Moosic , Old Forge , Elmhurst , Dickson City , Throop , Dunmore and many other departments.”
The mayor continued: “The City will continue to develop and update our agreements to share resources with our neighbors. The Scranton Fire Department has plans in place when we receive and provide mutual aid from and to other agencies. Many of our neighboring organizations have specialized resources the City benefits (from) on a regular basis. One specific example is when we have issues with water main problems, there is a procedure to call water tankers into the City from outlying fire departments to provide the water needed to extinguish fires when hydrants are out of service.”
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