Story Created:
Sep 29, 2009 at 6:46 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Sep 29, 2009 at 6:46 PM EDT
Fort Myers - In the City of Fort Myers layoffs may be putting your life at risk.
This is the concern from the firefighters union.
Last week 17 firefighters were laid off in the city.
This has reduced the number of firefighters working on a shift to 21.
The union says this means less crews responding to a fire, delaying response time.
"I believe it's going to make tremendous change in operations and safety of this city. 2 minutes will ultimately decide life or death or save a property," said Walt Stevens, head of the Firefighters Union and veteran Fort Myers firefighter.
Stevens sent an email to the city and media outlining his concerns on Tuesday.
The Deputy Fire Chief says the department is coping with the changes and will work hard to save lives.
Ultimately they would like to see the laid off firefighters back on the job.
No word yet if that's a possibility because the budget is an issue.
