14 Lieutenant Positions to be Cut from Evansville Fire Dept.

The Evansville Board of Public Safety approved a new Table of Organization that will eliminate 14 lieutenant positions through attrition. The move will save the department an estimated $94 thousand, but members of the firefighters local union say that number is deceiving because there is not set date on when the current lieutenants will retire. In a time of rising fuel costs and uncertain revenue streams from the state, Fire Chief Ken Zuber says his job is to make sure the department runs as efficiently as possible. He says firefighters have a right to be upset about the cuts. The major concern about the elimination of the posts is the merit system that is used by the department to promote from within. Non-ranking members of the department who want to be promoted to higher paying positions of authority must test and interview, then have their names added to a list. That list lasts for two years, and if a higher position comes open, it is filled with a name from the list. Several privates on the list are frustrated at the timing of the cuts, because they will have to test again, and now the opportunity for advancement has been dramatically reduced. The cuts will reduce the number of lieutenants on the force from 51 to 37. Union president Paul Anslinger estimates that it could take as many as 6 years before the 14 positions are eliminated and new posts come open for firefighters to advance to.