City Council to Revisit Fire Department Brownouts

Mayor Nutter's controversial plan to save money with one-day, rolling closures of fire stations throughout the city will be the subject of a City Council hearing this fall.

KYW's Mike Dunn reports that city councilwoman Jannie Blackwell called for the Council hearing on Nutter's fire plan, not necessarily to bash it, but to get a clearer picture of why it's needed:

"People want answers. They want to understand what's going on.  They want to know how it works, why it happened."

Nutter announced in July his plan to save $3.6 million in fire department overtime by closing stations for a day now and then, with the closures rotated throughout the city.

Nutter said fire department brass will defend the plan at the hearing:

"I think they've put together a plan that ensures safety of citizens, but also helps us to save money.  This is overtime."

The firefighters' union says the plan directly impacts public safety.  No date has yet been set for the hearing.