Cleveland can't afford grant to save firefighters' jobs

FOX8

CLEVELAND — "Yeah, another sad day," said Cleveland Firefighter Dave Renick as he turned in his fire helmet and gear along with 50 other firefighters Tuesday.

They were laid off because of the city's budget crisis.

"A lot of us have bought houses and started a family and going through this all over again when it could have been prevented," Renick said.

"Well, it's just disappointing that the city had an opportunity. They had a $4.5 million FEMA grant that was available to the city. We worked hard to try to come up with a package that would be amenable to the city and they weren't interested in it," Cleveland Firefighters Association Secretary Michael Norman said.

According to the mayor's spokeswoman, Andrea Taylor, the grant would have paid to save the jobs of 31 of the firefighters, but the city would have been required to pay to keep the other 20, and the city can't afford that.

So they had to refuse the grant.

It's not just people gone, but also life-saving equipment.

"We have two less fire trucks, two less fire engines and one rescue company that's not running today in the city," Norman said, adding that could mean people will have to wait longer for them in an emergency. "And there may not be the resources available for the quickest response that we could have."

Many of the firefighters are being laid-off for the second or third time.

This is the second time Renick has been laid off in recent years. He hopes to eventually be re-hired.

"I think we will, but it's probably going to be another six months to a year," Renick said.

Republished with permission of Fox8