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Allen Park May Lay Off Entire Fire Department

ALLEN PARK (WWJ/AP) - The city of Allen Park is considering laying off its entire fire department.

Tuesday night, the Allen Park City Council voted to issue layoff notices to all 27 of the city's firefighters. This excludes the fire chief, who is appointed.

The notices are being sent out Wednesday and will be activated in 30 days if no way is found to pay for the department. 

WWJ Newsradio 950 spoke, Wednesday, with Craig Hickey, Vice President of Allen Park Fire Fighters Local 14-10.

"It's dangerous. I know it's a horrible idea for the citizens. I mean, I am a citizen of Allen Park and it bothers me tremendously, knowing that there may be a time in the future where when you call 9-1-1-, all you're going to get is the police and hopefully a taxi cab to take you to the hospital," Hickey said.

Hickey said firefighters are considering legal action to attempt to block the layoffs.

"I have a hard time believing that this is the best solution.  Actually, I'm tending to believe that it's one of the worst solutions," he said.

Officials in the downriver community didn't indicate how much they would need to save to avoid following through with the layoffs or how deep the financial troubles run in the city.

Much of the blame for Allen Park's deficit is being attributed to the decision by Unity Studios in September to move planned sound stages and production offices to Detroit.  The movie company and Allen Park officials had a contentious relationship almost from the beginning.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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