IG Confirms Critical Staffing Shortages at DC Fire Dept

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

A report released last month by the DC Office of theInspector General confirmed what Fire Fighters Local 36 has been saying all along. “We are severely understaffed, even though fully funded,” Local 36 said, “and those shortages have driven the department to a critical breaking point.” Local 36 continues to stress the points reiterated in the IG report: “Public safety agencies need (to be fully staffed with) properly trained personnel, who are fairly compensated, properly equipped, and o operate effectively during times of crisis, no matter how large or how small; and those same agencies should not be used as a pulpit for political or social agendas.” Local 36 urged the DC City Council and residents “to read the report, consider the probable outcomes, and act quickly and appropriately.”