Christina Jedra

The News Journal

The Wilmington City Council may ask the state for $300,000 to prevent a fire engine from being taken out of operation.

The council will vote on a resolution Thursday that would authorize a request for funds from the state, said City Councilman Bob Williams, the sponsor of the resolution.

"This is a shot in the dark to see if the state would accommodate us," said Williams, a member of the public safety committee. "It's an urgent safety matter."

The money is intended to prevent the idling of Fire Engine 6 at Station 6, which Fire Chief Anthony Goode announced last week will be taken out of service when low staffing levels require the use of overtime pay to fill shifts.

The closure is an alternative to conditional company closures between three fire stations. The controversial practice was in place during a Sept. 24 blaze in Canby Park that ultimately killed three firefighters. The department suspended the practice the day after the fire but reinstated it two months later citing $500,000 of overtime four months into the budget year.

Williams said the chief "didn't budget enough" for the year but acknowledged the unexpected costs associated with a November fire at the Bancroft Mills factory. Nearly 70 fire trucks and tankers responded to the blaze in five buildings along the Brandywine River.

The $300,000 the city is requesting would cover the costs of overtime pay for Engine 6 firefighters for three months, Williams estimated.

"That way, we’d give (incoming mayor Mike) Purzycki a chance to prepare his budget and make some adjustments," he said.

Closing an engine is a public safety hazard that creates a "domino effect" of slowed response times, Williams said.

"The other companies can be tied up with additional work, and it puts a strain on the volunteer companies because they have to subsidize ours," he said.

Williams said it is "perplexing" that the department would close Engine 6, which was out of service during the fire that caused the deaths of Capt. Christopher Leach, Lt. Jerry Fickes and Senior Firefighter Ardythe Hope.

"I found it to be more insulting than anything else," he said.

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Williams said he wants to work with the auditing department to comb old city budgets for unused funds. City Council President Theo Gregory recently said he "scrubbed the budget" and found $200,000 leftover from the 2006 Capital Budget. Gregory wants to use it to begin the renovation process of Eden Park.

State Rep. Helene Keeley, who represents the west side of Wilmington, said she hopes to do the same in Dover.

"The state ourselves are facing a large deficit when we return in January. It’s not as if we can automatically write a check to the city for $300,000," she said. "If there is a project that is not currently where it needs to be or is not a priority anymore for the city, I'm hopeful maybe we can find some funds that can be reallocated."

Keeley said she doesn't want to make promises about potential funds, but she's "just trying to be helpful."

"I’m worried about my constituency," she said.

The firefighters' union, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1590, and Mayor Dennis P. Williams did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Contact Christina Jedra at cjedra@delawareonline.com, (302) 324-2837 or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.

Draft of the resolution: