Fire department sees cuts to wilderness, water rescue teams

February 25, 2010

by Ashton Goodell
Wednesday, February 24, 2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The firefighters union says it's just starting to see cuts made to the fire department's wilderness rescue program.

The city cut the services during the budget process to make up for some of the city's budget shortfall.

The fire department had to disband its mountain rescue and inlet rescue teams and temporarily shut down the swift water rescue team during the winter when such rescues are uncommon.

The fire union says it could affect public safety, suggesting that rescues in places like Flattop or the mud flats near Fire Island could be delayed for hours.

Mayor Dan Sullivan says the cuts helped prevent layoffs and stopped the fire station rolling closures.

"I think the fire department union has been very, very proactive in trying to, I guess, kind of nit-pick at everything we've done with the budget and maybe that's just a technique to call attention keeping their budget fully funded, but we have a process and we are going to stay within that process," Sullivan said.

"Anybody who's not ready to do that at nine to 10 o'clock at night on a moment's notice, and you add an hour or two hours to that response, the outcome is not going to be the same," said Tom Wescott, the union's president.

Alaska State Troopers are now overseeing wilderness and Inlet rescues.

Contact Ashton Goodell at agoodell@ktuu.com

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