OGDENSBURG â The public battle between the city and its fire union continued Friday with a fierce letter from the unionâs president, saying City Manager Stephen P. Jellie âwants desperately to have his way, no matter how unsafe or how much resistance he gets.â
In a letter to media Friday, Jason T. Bouchard, president of Ogdensburg Professional Firefighters, Local 1799, called out Mr. Jellie â who is also the fire chief â for opting to have just one fire engine running to all emergency calls.
âThereâs so many reasons why his one engine response is a bad idea, and we will eventually pay the price for this thoughtless move. Responding to a structure fire with only one engine, with a backup engine at least 10 minutes behind, could very well have devastating consequences,â Mr. Bouchard wrote. âWeâre at a complete loss for how and why this is happening. One man can ride into the city occasionally (he still doesnât live here) and