Ypsilanti firefighters look to grant to save jobs

By Adrienne Ziegler
Feb. 10, 2010    ·    1:32 p.m.

Ypsilanti Firefighter Michael Loria prays every night the department receives a federal grant to save his job.

“When you work somewhere for ten and a half years, you don’t really expect this type of thing to happen,” he said.

Loria is just one of six Ypsilanti firefighters and five police officers slated to be laid off July 1 due to $1.4 million in city budget shortfalls.

However, when the Ypsilanti City Council began considering layoffs to public safety personnel, the YFD applied for a $818,000 grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency that would allow them to recall all six firefighters said Fire Chief Jon Ichesco.

The Staffing for Adequate Emergency and Fire Response (SAFER) grant is offered through FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. If awarded, it would cover the cost of salary and benefits for those six firefighters through 2011.

The SAFER grant was designed specifically to help communities maintain the number of firefighters necessary to uphold federal safety standards like the two-in, two-out policy. The policy requires that in order for a firefighter to enter a burning structure, he or she must be accompanied by another firefighter with another two outside for emergency support. A supervisor should also be outside to help coordinate.

As currently scheduled, YFD layoffs would reduce the number of firefighters from 18 to 12, creating two shifts of four firefighters with alternates. According to Ichesco, that’s just not enough to stage a quick and aggressive attack against a fire.

“You have to wait until enough people arrive then try to zap the fire,” Ichesco said, meaning the department would rely heavily on mutual aid from other departments in the area, many of which are also experiencing possible budget cuts and personnel shortages.

Loria, 35, has worked with the Ypsilanti Fire Department since 1999. With a 10-month old baby and another child due in May, he said he is concerned about supporting his family if the grant is not approved. He said he's looked for other firefighter jobs in Michigan, but with so many people unemployed the competition is tough.

“I’d have to start looking for some other type of work and in Michigan that’s going to be difficult,” he said. “Packing up our kids and moving out of the state is not something we want to do.”

Loria also said that as a 35-year-old firefighter, it would be tough to start over with another department.

“I would be working against kids potentially half my age,” he said.

YFD Union President Ken Hobbs said he is still hopeful that they can avoid the layoffs altogether through mediation with the city.

“I’m an optimist,” he said. “There’s still a possibility that we can avoid this. We have good community support.”

For now, Loria said he just hopes to keep his job whether it’s through mediation or the federal grant.

“It’s going to be tough to feed our kids and take care of our house and do all those things we’re supposed to do,” Loria said. “If [the grant] goes through, it will hopefully save my job.”

Ichesco asked Ypsilanti residents to write letters to FEMA in support of the SAFER grant. Letters can be sent to:

Mr. Timothy W. Manning, Deputy Administrator
DHS/FEMA/National Preparedness Directorate
500 C Street, SW
Washington, DC 20472

Letters may also be faxed to 202-786-9938.

Related article:
City eyes 11 layoffs in public safety