HAMILTON — City Council has decided not to close one of six fire stations here — at least for now.

        But Bill Quinn, president of the city's firefighters union, and Fire Chief Lyle Moore said Wednesday's decision was a temporary fix.

        Dozens of firefighters and police officers were among more than 200 people who attended the meeting.

        “We wish you could feel what we feel, the frustration as we pull on the chain of the air horn again and again, yet people seem not to care” to get out of the way, Mr. Quinn said. “However, the first thing we hear upon our arrival is, "What took you guys so long?' ... With the closure of a fire station, these incidents would only increase.”

        “We have put off for the moment closing a fire station,” Chief Moore said. “To maintain the service at the present level we have to have the same level of funding,” he said.

        Council's decision to maintain the fire department's current level of emergency services means all six fire stations will remain open for now. Council also asked all department heads to prepare a report due in two weeks detailing how vacant positions are affecting their operations.

        Mayor Adolf Olivas said his vote two weeks ago to close a fire station was based on information by City Man ager Steve Sorrell, who said the city's budget could not be balanced without a hiring freeze that would essentially close a fire station.

        Since then, he said he has been told that all fire stations might be able to remain open if some structural changes are made within the fire department.

        “I do not know what those (changes) are,” the mayor said. “I don't know why that information comes to light today and didn't come to light two weeks ago. I am completely perplexed as to how the administration can tell me one week that we can't (keep a firehouse open) unless we do X, Y and Z, and the next week, well maybe we can. I'm not happy about it.”

        In addition to three vacancies in the fire department, one firefighter is processing a disability pension, Chief Moore plans to retire in March, and three other firefighters are discussing retiring.

        Based on the hiring freeze on all general fund positions, which includes police and fire officers, there will be no new hires in the fire department, which has 106 staffers; a full complement is 109.

        Kevin Watts, president of the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters, said several cities across the state have responded to budget deficits by closing fire stations and/or reducing emergency services because city leaders hope that will encourage residents to increase tax revenues.

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