Mischler says due to furloughs all fire units are now carrying only three firefighters instead of the standard four. One of their nearby fire stations, rescue 7, was technically open Tuesday, but because of the furloughs, the union president says it was only half-staffed.
“Another three to five firefighters would’ve on the scene with them yesterday which would’ve allowed them to do more on the scene immediately,” said Mischler.
“You can play the hypothetical what if game all of the time, the fact of the matter is, and I said this before the city council, furloughs do have an impact. We have companies out of service on a daily basis right? So, it reduces our overall staffing, but we’ve taken steps to make sure its response times are within a reasonable time frame,” said Roman Nelson, interim superintendent of the New Orleans Fire Department.