Albany Fire Chief John Bradner was driving back from Eugene recently when he glanced down at his dashboard and saw the temperature.
“It said 90 degrees!” he said. “It’s not even the middle of May.”
High temperatures and low humidity have the chief concerned about the upcoming fire season. But he spent the last week putting out a different sort of fire. On April 2, Albany City Manager Peter Troedsson presented a proposed budget to the city's budget committee, outlining cuts to several city departments including fire and police. The cuts, he said, were necessary not only because costs were outpacing revenue but also because the city needed to prepare for a possible recession some economists are forecasting for the near future.