Hotel fire highlights importance of mutual aid in suburban cities
A large fire in Brooklyn did more than cause major damage to a hotel. It raised issues about safety forces in the region and the reliance on neighbors for help in emergencies.
The fire underscored a matter smaller suburban fire departments face daily: They can battle most blazes with their own firefighters, but if a larger one hits, the departments must rely on the services of nearby cities for help.
Rob Slattery, a former police officer and resident of Brooklyn who monitors city government, said he is concerned about the department’s reliance on that help, commonly referred to as mutual aid. He cited the fact that the department has few officers working per shift and that it must pay out large amounts of overtime.
His main concern: What would Brooklyn do if a major fire broke out, and other cities were too busy to help?
Cities, however, have come to rely on the mutual-aid agreements as the numbers of firefighters continue to drop through retirements, and departments struggle to find new hires.
“Most cities, when it comes to fires, rely on each other’s assistance because cities cannot afford to hire 100 guys or gals per shift to meet the standards that are set forth by the National Fire Protection Association,” said Kevin Paul, the city’s fire chief. “So, that is why we have these mutual-aid agreements.”
Suburbs have the agreements to exchange resources and services. Mutual aid could include cities assisting one another with emergency services and policing.
The hotel fire in Brooklyn took a toll on those services.
On Feb. 16, a blaze at the Hampton Inn on Cascade Crossing, near Tiedeman Road, drew firefighters from 10 departments with more than 100 firefighters, according to interviews and published reports. Officials originally received a call that a fire alarm went off. That quickly changed.
No one was injured, but the damage has caused the hotel to remain closed. It plans to reopen later this year.
A month later, firefighters responded to the Extended Stay America, which is also on Cascade Crossing. The fire was confined to a bathroom, and no one was hurt. Authorities are investigating the causes of the fires.
Numbers of officers on shifts
Slattery said Brooklyn needs to hire more firefighters. It is an issue departments across Northeast Ohio face.
On a regular shift, six officers work in Brooklyn. The city has a department of 21 firefighters; they serve a city of about 12,000 residents. About 85% of the department’s calls are medical-related, Paul said.
The small staff has prompted a boost in overtime. Payroll records from the department show some officers earned thousands of dollars in overtime last year.
Slattery opposes large amounts of overtime that firefighters work, and he said the money would be better spent hiring more officers.
Additionally, he also said the long hours strain firefighters, especially those who are veterans of the department.
The older you get, you get all banged up and you don’t respond as well,” he said.
‘People don’t want to be firefighters’
The department has had challenges finding new employees, Paul said. The coronavirus added to that, making it difficult to recruit officers.
“For some reason people do not want to be firefighters and police officers,” Paul said. “I don’t know what the answer is, but we’re all having the same issue.”
Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to the chiefs at other departments to see how they used mutual aid. Most suburbs handle mutual-aid calls as Brooklyn does.
Take Parma.
It has a population of nearly 80,000 people. Its department consists of 110 members, with a minimum of 23 firefighters working at any time.
T.J. Martin, a spokesman for the department, said Parma usually gives or receives aid daily, and all the suburban cities rely on mutual aid, no matter their size.
“They all rely on other people to come in and help out because no department is big enough to handle their own emergencies,” Martin said.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, there should have been at least 47 firefighters to respond to the scene at the fire at the Hampton Inn. That means it is impossible for a city like Brooklyn to meet national standards because there are only six firefighters on a shift at a time.
“I just think that mutual aid is a great aspect to communities that allows them to have resources that they may not normally have under normal circumstances, either because of budgetary restrictions or manpower restrictions,” Martin said.
Cleveland, unlike smaller departments, can draw from stations across the city in the event of a major fire. But it has long helped its neighbors.
The city has more than 700 firefighters. Its staffing level appears appropriate for the more than 370,000 residents it serves. But the department offers mutual aid to suburban communities that need assistance, such as technicians for hazardous materials.
For smaller departments, the help is often welcomed – and needed.
“If you ask any fire chief, they’re always going to tell you they want more staffing,” said Matt Bernard, the fire chief of Parma Heights. “But it’s a delicate balance between what the cities can afford and what they actually need.”