Firefighters in Dudley, Massachusetts, are sounding the alarm about staffing cuts they said are so significant, it will soon put public safety at risk.
The cuts come as the town faces a budget crunch due to increasing costs for the regional school district.
Dudley Fire Chief Dean Kochanowski said the situation is dire. The cuts mean starting July 1, he is forced to get rid of dozens of on-call firefighters and two full-timers.
"It's terrible. It's probably the worst I have ever gone through in my 12 years here," Kochanowski said.
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The chief said the department will now have to run with just two firefighters per shift. Due to safety protocols, the crew will not be able to go into a burning building until mutual aid arrives.
"Any search and rescue inside the house, we will have to wait for mutual aid, and that could be 15 to 20 minutes," Dudley Fire Captain Steven Chenard said.
Chenard said it will also have an impact on response times for medical emergencies.
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"I'm not going to say people will die over this matter, but responses will be delayed, 100%," Chenard said.
Dudley tried to get the money to cover the budget gap by raising taxes, but after two overrides failed, official said they had no choice.
The fire department is not the only agency impacted. The town administrator said the police department stands to lose two patrol officers. The highway department will have to cut four employees. Town Hall will only be open to the public two days a week, and the library will have to shutdown.
"What that means is anyone in Dudley, anyone who has a zip code in Dudley, will lose access to all of the libraries in the state," said Drusilla Carter, the library's director. "We're just numb at this point."
Dudley town officials are scrambling for yet another special election. The board of selectmen is considering asking taxpayers, line by line, what they want to fund, but it would not go for a public vote until mid-August.
"I don't think taxpayers understood what the cuts would be before," Chenard said.
Firefighters are protesting the cuts on the side of the road across from the department to make sure the community knows what it stands to lose.
"The cost of everything has gone up. I don't want to spend more money either, but I want my family to be safe," Dudley resident Amy Reynolds said.
