Chief warns 10% cut would close stations, residents and firefighters urge preserving services

Bradford County’s fire chief told commissioners that a 10% reduction to the fire and rescue operating budget would force the department to remove supervisory staff and close stations, lengthen response times and raise insurance costs for residents. The presentation drew an extended public comment period in which firefighters, their family members and municipal officials urged the board to preserve staffing and funding.

“I'm strongly opposed to any cuts to Bradford County Fire Rescue. Public safety is not a place for reductions,” Fire Chief Carter told the commission, laying out budget figures and options the department used to model a 10% cut.

Chief Carter said the department’s FY 2024–25 operating budget (excluding grants) stood at roughly $8,133,000; under that baseline, a 10% reduction would lower available resources to about $7,319,700. The proposed FY 2025–26 operating budget is listed in the presentation as $8,844,102; bringing that proposed budget down 10% would require approximately $1,524,402 in cuts, the chief said. To reach the modeled reduction, the chief described a sequence of potential cuts: for example, not staffing a planned Brooker station (saving about $677,436),…