LAWRENCE — Last year, Andover firefighters came to Lawrence 11 times to help fight fires.
Since July 7 — after 23 Lawrence firefighters were laid off and a firehouse was closed — Andover has already helped the city seven times. That includes four times in the past week.
Andover fire Chief Michael Mansfield, who has his own budget constraints to deal with, yesterday stressed that Lawrence can't continue to rely on his department and others in surrounding communities to help out on a daily basis.
"We have got to plug the dike, so to speak. The leak is getting bigger," said Mansfield. "We have a situation today that is not getting any better and stands to get worse as time goes on. ... Lawrence needs to do something to repair this acute problem."
But area leaders learned yesterday that Lawrence's dependence on firefighters from surrounding communities won't stop anytime soon.
Lawrence City Councilor Marc Laplante arranged a meeting yesterday of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover municipal and fire officials to talk about "putting the mutual back in the mutual aid system," he said.
A larger meeting on the mutual aid issue is scheduled for Tuesday morning in Andover. Local politicians, Essex County fire chiefs and possibly state Fire Marshal Stephen Coan are expected to attend.
Lawrence relied heavily on mutual aid coverage during the last week, when three large fires broke out, including two on Sunday that were six hours apart in an abandoned paper mill on South Canal Street.
At yesterday's meeting, Brian Murphy, the acting fire chief in Lawrence, said the only way the city can break its constant reliance on outside help "is if the Lawrence Fire Department gets more personnel."
The Lawrence Fire Department took a $2.5 million budget hit this year. Two-thirds of the city's $72 million municipal budget is paid by the state. In March, state lawmakers passed a bill allowing the city to borrow up to $35 million to repair its budget. The city borrowed $24 million this spring to pay off a deficit. Another $4 million will be borrowed this year to balance the fiscal year 2011 budget.
Echoing his message from spring budget talks, Murphy warned yesterday that both city "residents and property are in imminent danger. ... And there is no light at the end of the tunnel."
Now running with four shifts of 13 to 15 firefighters, Murphy said the city of roughly 78,000 people is abusing the local, voluntary mutual aid agreement which was designed for "extraordinary" fires and emergencies.
"It's tremendous assistance but it's not meant for day-to-day operations," Murphy said.
In total, 74 firefighters are assigned to shifts in fire stations and the department has 26 others, including himself, deputy chiefs, fire alarm workers, dispatchers and office personnel.
In 2009, North Andover firefighters came to the city five times on mutual aid calls. Already this year, crews have come to the city to work "at least 10 times so far," said North Andover Selectman Daniel Lanen, who also is a town police officer.
Lanen said Lawrence needs a larger pool of firefighters.
"That's the elephant in the room," he said. "It all comes down to the basics.''
But Mayor William Lantigua has repeatedly said the $2.5 million needed to hire more firefighters and reopen three closed firehouses is nowhere to be found. The firefighters union was asked to make cost-savings concessions to save jobs, but an agreement was never reached. Leonard Degnan, Lantigua's chief of staff, said firefighters canceled eight of 10 meetings where concessions were going to be discussed.
But Patrick Driscoll, fire union president, said union members have taken the brunt of years of budget cuts and position eliminations. The city will soon be saving money when it switches to a shared statewide health care plan. The department also has applied for $13 million in federal grant money.
"There are less than 100 guys on the department. To make up $2.5 million would be a $25,000 cut for each firefighter,'' Driscoll said. "These are people loyal to the city for the past two or three decades. Now they expect them to take the brunt?"
But Andover Selectman Brian Major warned that grant money is just a temporary fix for the Lawrence Fire Department's financial problem. Major asked if Lawrence has looked at how other fire departments operate their budgets.
"Generally saying 'we need more bodies' is hard because there is only a static amount of money available," he said.
Yesterday, Degnan said the issue "all boils down to concessions or additional revenue." Neither he nor Lantigua attended yesterday's meeting, although Degnan said they would be at Tuesday's meeting.
