LAWRENCE - Two multiple-alarm fires in less than two weeks. A city block crippled. Nearly 200 people left homeless. An understaffed Fire Department in a financially strapped city with many old, unoccupied buildings.
The situation indeed was both urgent and bleak after a massive blaze destroyed 14 buildings in South Lawrence early Monday in the worst fire to hit the city since the Malden Mills inferno in 1995. And that was on the heels of a spectacular fire on Jan. 13 that destroyed a 141-year-old building and forced police to close off 22 blocks around the Arlington neighborhood while firefighters fought to bring the blaze under control.
As the city dusts itself off after the latest fiery blow, local officials worry that the ongoing budget pressures may lead to reductions in police officers and firefighters and could push Lawrence back to the "flaming era" of the early 1990s, when the city wore the dubious tag of arson capital of the nation. Back then, Lawrence authorities were overwhelmed battling blazes that seemed to break out every evening.
"We used to see three to four fires a night," said Patrick Driscoll, president of the Lawrence Firefighters Union and a 20-year department veteran. "It was bad."
In 1991, Lawrence recorded 148 arsons of buildings. By 2006, that number had dropped to five building arsons, resulting from, officials say, a dedicated arson task force and new preventive meas ures. But the city's continuing budget crunch could force substantial cuts to the Police and Fire departments and begin to erase some of the hard-fought gains, union and some city officials warned.
On Tuesday night, just hours after battling the fire in South Lawrence, dozens of firefighters crowded a City Council meeting to express their concerns about the threatened cuts that would have become reality if councilors voted against setting Mayor Michael J. Sullivan's new tax and water and sewer rates.
The mayor's 2007-08 budget, which contained property tax increases, became law last year without City Council approval after councilors failed to act on it within the required 45 days. But until Tuesday night, councilors had refused to set the tax and user rates supported by City Hall department heads.
Sullivan, who did not attend the meeting, had warned that if he could not raise more revenue, he would be forced to lay off 20 firefighters and close two of the city's six firehouses. That brought out the firefighters, who held signs, gave speeches, and stayed until the council relented on the new rates in a 6-to-3 vote around midnight. Councilors Grisel Silva, Frank A. Moran, and Nilka Alvarez-Rodriguez voted against the new measure, which raised property taxes by about $200 a year for the average homeowner and increased water and sewer fees slightly for all ratepayers.
"It was brutal," said Roger Jameson, a 36-year-old firefighter, referring to the nearly five-hour council meeting. "It breaks my heart to see anyone on the council vote against the Fire Department."
Jameson called the council's final vote "the right thing to do."
Fire Chief Peter Takvorian said he felt relieved. But he acknowledged that future threats of cuts are not going away soon, because the city is expected to face more budget woes. "I'm going to fight like hell not to lose anyone," he said.
Takvorian said the department had 92 firefighters in 1991, when the city fought a wave of building arsons. The department now has 121, he said.
He sees worrying signs that Lawrence could return to what some residents call the "flaming era" of 1991 to 1994, when the city got national attention for the sheer number of arsons. He said last week that 250 buildings in Lawrence are abandoned and 700 more are going through foreclosure, putting them at risk for arson.
If he is forced to close two engine houses, as Sullivan has threatened, Takvorian said it will be more difficult to respond quickly to fires and to ensure that all unoccupied buildings remain boarded up to keep vandals - and arsonists - out.
Takvorian said the department is already working with a short staff because the present budget will not allow him to fill 12 open positions.
Meanwhile, Police Chief John J. Romero said his department cannot fill 11 open positions because of the budget crunch.
City Council president Patrick Blanchette warned that, even with tax and rate hikes, the city still faces "tough times" with its budget. "It's sad that we're in a tough fiscal situation, but we're not alone," he said, pointing to similar problems in other cities and towns.
Blanchette blamed "propaganda" reported by local newspapers and radio stations for the fears about cuts in fire and police services. He said that if the City Council had refused to approve the new tax rate, it would have been up to Sullivan to decide any staff reductions.
Silva, who had long advocated for cuts in public safety services to balance the budget, said the council will face this issue again. "We all need to wake up tomorrow and realize that the deficit will not go away," she said.
She blamed Sullivan for the fiscal crisis, and criticized the mayor for not attending Tuesday's meeting. Silva has long contended that Sullivan did not have to raise taxes and could cut high-ranking police positions and overtime without laying off police officers.
Sullivan said the council has had plenty of time to act on water and tax rates. "I did my part," he said in an interview, adding that councilors could have been working on the matter since December. He disputed Silva's assertion that cutting overtime and high-ranking police positions would have been enough to balance the budget.
Driscoll, the union leader, vowed that, come election time, firefighters will remember how the councilors voted and what they said Tuesday night. Asked about possible cuts in the Fire and Police departments in the future if the city is still struggling financially, he said firefighters will continue to attend City Council meetings to press their case.
"We'll be here in three months," he said. "That's a promise."
Fire Captain Perry DiNatale warned that if the city were to see cuts in public safety services, it would be residents who will suffer in the end.
"Some people used to go to bed with their suitcases packed because they were afraid they may have to leave in the middle of the night" because of a fire, said DiNatale, a 20-year veteran of the department. "That doesn't happen now."
