The local fire union wants to know why a multi-million dollar surplus, found by Metro government from last year's budget, can't be used to reverse cuts made this year.
The city found an extra $4 million in an audit of the last fiscal year, which ended this past June. Now, it’s up to Metro Council to decide where that money will go.
“We’re cut to the bones and we’re sawing through bone and we’re starting to lose limbs and if we don’t have those to function, we can’t provide the service that the community deserves,” International Association of Fire Fighters 345 President Brian O’Neill said.
Just four days after an entire LFD Engine Company was shut down, O'Neill says there was a deadly fire within their alarm district.
“Rather than having eight firefighters on two pieces of equipment, you now only have four firefighters on one piece of equipment that is much slower, much less maneuverable, so it arrived on the scene much later in the game,” O’Neill said.