I love living in East Lansing. I love working and raising my children in East Lansing. I love being a graduate of MSU, but I hate what is being done to the fire department in East Lansing, of which I am a proud member.

The latest decrease in minimum staffing puts our citizens and our firefighters at risk. But don't take my word for it: The city's own study proves it. In 1999, the city commissioned a study by the TriData Corporation of Arlington, Va. TriData was asked to evaluate current service levels and make recommendations for improving services to both East Lansing and Meridian Township. The study showed the city was understaffed, yet the city has chosen to decrease staff time and again.

At the time of the study, daily minimum staffing was 14; it is now 12. Incredibly, evaluators were told there was no plan for future annexation or expansion in the city. Along with this increased area and its development comes more responsibility and workload for the fire department.

The National Fire Protection Association recommends 15 firefighters for a simple house fire and almost twice that for a fire at high-risk campus buildings. The TriData study reported, "East Lansing could not easily handle a nontrivial high-rise dormitory fire at MSU."

This past summer, the city again surveyed the citizens regarding a myriad of city services. The survey acknowledged the current economic conditions and asked residents to prioritize city services - staffing the fire department was rated the highest priority.

Will it take a disaster with multiple fatalities or a huge jump in insurance rates for the city to finally adequately staff the fire department? The time to act is now, not after some tragedy. History has proved that disasters cannot be predicted. We must be constantly prepared, and the fire department must be properly staffed.

Bob Pratt
East Lansing fire marshal, 1980 MSU alumnus and East Lansing resident