A full house of firefighters attended the last city council meeting of 2013 Monday evening.
Their union wanted councillors to reconsider a recently adopted implementation plan for firefighting in Windsor.
Firefighters Association President, Angelo Gertsakis raised concerns about safety. “We’re an association. We’re trying to do the right thing for the citizens for firefighters, and again the City of Windsor residents deserve more.”
This past week, council approved a plan that the fire chief says will improve service response times and coverage across the city without raising taxes.
The decision includes closing three fire halls and building two new ones. Also, one truck would be removed from service.
Mayor Eddie Francis says the decision will help firefighters reach an additional 50,000 residents within ten minutes.
While the union contends the loss of a single fire engine could jeopardize the safety of residents and was looking to explore other options, Mayor Francis says those ideas could be discussed in the next round of negotiations. “Our parameters are well known and well established and that's what we're proceeding with.”
Ultimately, council decided not to entertain any changes
