SPARKS — People will die if layoffs to the local fire department are approved by the City Council on Monday, firefighter union representatives said Friday.

It doesn’t have to be that way, they argue, if the city will accept a temporary plan to cut roughly $850,000 from the fire department budget. That would save 11 firefighter jobs, according to Sparks fire Division Chief Gene Rybak and Captain Kevin Cavanagh, who represent the unions for fire chiefs and firefighters respectively.

On the flip side, the layoffs that are being recommended for the city’s police, fire and maintenance personnel would not be necessary if their unions had agreed to 15 percent compensation cuts over the next two years, city spokesman Adam Mayberry said Friday. With time running out on a $5 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that starts July 1 and again for 2011-2012, the City Council is set to vote Monday on cuts stemming from a city-wide request for 7.5 percent in wage concessions from each department for each of the next two fiscal years. Mayberry said a majority of the city’s employees have agreed to the concessions to avoid layoffs, whereas the fire, police and operating engineers unions all have not agreed to them.

“This is the first time we have laid off public safety employees,” Mayberry said. “We have tried not to for two years (since this budget situation has come about). We’re at a point now where we have no other choice.”

At a press conference outside Sparks Fire Department Station 1 on Friday, Rybak said both firefighter’s unions, which represent seven chiefs and 83 firefighters, operators and fire prevention personnel, are proposing $650,000 in temporary wage reductions in addition to eliminating $200,000 in overtime for the coming year. The concessions would include deferring 2.1 percent cost of living increases in July and again in January 2011, a 1.52 percent pay cut and eliminating this year’s $80,000 uniform allowance — averaging out to around $1,100 per union member. This, according to the union representatives, is a voluntary concession offer with one year remaining on the current contract governing firefighters’ employment.

The sticking point, Rybak said, is that city leaders want the fire department to make permanent cuts, while the union wants all concessions to be temporary.

“We really feel why should we make permanent concessions when we’re working to fix a temporary situation,” Rybak said, referring to the hope that the economy and local budget problems will correct themselves with time.

The city, however, sees the budget deficit as a long term, structural problem that can’t be fixed with temporary solutions, Mayberry said. Under a plan being recommended by City Manager Shaun Carey and put to the City Council for a vote on Monday, the fire department would see 11 positions eliminated to meet the 7.5 percent reduction. The police department would face 12 officer layoffs, though six could be immediately rehired under a federal stimulus grant. In total, 56 positions would be eliminated with 48 layoffs.

Fire union officials argued Friday that losing that many of their sworn personnel would put the citizens of Sparks in danger in the event of an emergency. Cavanagh said the size of each shift would be reduced to the point where one fire in the city would require all on-duty firefighters and leave the rest of the city unprotected.

“This will affect everyone who lives, works or owns property in Sparks,” Cavanagh said in a written statement. “The scary part is, if we let this happen, the average citizen won’t realize the effect until they dial 911 and there’s no one to respond.”

Cavanagh and Rybak said the fire department has already taken budget hits recently, including $1.3 million for the last part of the 2009-2010 year and first part of 2010-2011. In all, Cavanagh said, the fire department force is one-third smaller than it was two years ago.

Fire Chief Andy Flock said Friday that none of the city’s five fire stations would be closed in the 11 layoffs go through. Rather, he said, trucks would be shut down for certain time periods at Station 1 on Victorian Avenue. The drawback to that is, according to Flock, that Station 1 handles 3,500, or 45 percent, of the city’s emergency calls annually and services the major hazard areas such as the oil tank farm and the high-rise towers of John Ascuaga’s Nugget. If the fire truck is on a call from Station 1 and another call comes in, a truck from a different station would have to respond, thereby increasing response time.

The reduced number of fire responders would also affect the “two in, two out” policy under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines, which say there must be two firefighters outside a fire in order to send two inside to fight a blaze.

Flock said the last time the Sparks Fire Department endured significant layoffs was 1981. Most of the department's personnel losses have been through jobs that have gone unfilled as employees left or retired. If the 11 layoffs are approved, the department will be down 44 positions, Flock said, with total fire suppression personnel numbering 67. Of those, 26 would be working each shift between the five stations.

“My biggest concern is, that while none of the stations have closed, it is false to say that nothing has changed,” Flock said. “There are going to be service level reductions. We have got exceptional people in this organization. We just do the best we can with resources we have.”

According to the Sparks Police Department’s annual report for 2008, the department had 1.27 sworn officers per 1,000 residents, lower than the national average and the recommended number.

Mayberry said that even if the council approved the recommended layoffs, the unions have about a month to concede to wage reductions to avoid layoffs. The May 18 budget hearing is the last opportunity to make changes to next year’s budget before the city has to prepare its final submission to the state, which is due in the mail by June 1.