Portland firefighters rally against proposed city budget cuts

Añadido: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Today, firefighters plan to make a big showing outside City Hall later this morning as they rally against proposed cuts to the Portland Fire Bureau. The mayor's budget plan aims to close a $163 million shortfall, which includes cuts to fire services. Libby Dausa live at City Hall where that rally is set to happen, Libby.

[00:00:21]Well, guys, firefighters are rallying hoping to protect first responders from these cuts saying that it's so important for our first responders and they hope they can close that budget hole some other way. Now, over the past week they've been showing up at budget hearings hoping to hear some good news at City Hall as councilors debate the cuts. Mayor Keith Wilson's proposed cuts include fewer on-duty firefighters, reduced administrative staff, and scaling back the overdose response team.

[00:00:56]Also, Fire Station 22 in the St. John's neighborhood is at risk of losing its only rig that carries water. Public Safety Bureaus make up much of the general fund and the mayor's budget plan aims to close that shortfall with cuts to both fire and police. Here's some of that debate.

[00:01:18]Any time that we reduce the number of firefighters, that means we don't have the resources we need to be able to put out fires. I doubt that there'll be a one with no cuts, but I think there are places that you can look that aren't frontline responders. I don't think that's possible with the level of cut that we have to make, but we certainly need to be using a scalpel.

[00:01:35]>> [sighs] >> And some city councilors have agreed that protecting those response times is a top priority. So, there's a lot of work to be done before this all comes to pass. Now, that firefighter rally today starts at 9:00 a.m. right here.