The Baltimore Fire Officers Union IFF Local 964 and Baltimore Firefighters IFF 734 officially threw their support behind Mayor Brandon Scott’s bid for reelection. The two fire unions announced the endorsement during a press conference on Monday.

Union leaders were highly critical of one of Scott’s opponents, former Mayor Sheila Dixon. Josh Fadden, president of the Baltimore Fire Officers Union, brought up Dixon’s resignation from office and decisions made while she was mayor.

“For almost a full term before resigning due to a criminal conviction for perjury and embezzlement, during that partial term, we saw rotating closures also called brownouts of five fire companies citywide per city policy. This was a conscious decision to gamble with citizens’ lives by choosing not to fully staff fire engines. This resulted in increased response times,” Fadden stated.

Response times, call volumes, budgets, resources, and staffing levels have continued to be sore points raised by the unions. Last year, a father told FOX45 News that only a fire truck responded when he called 911 after his son had a seizure.

“The city failed not only my son, but us as taxpayers and parents,” said Will Green in 2023. “When they showed up, they had no ETA on the medic unit we needed to take my son to the hospital.”

In 2022, first responders’ frustrations were captured on Baltimore City Fire Department radio traffic scanner audio clips.

Archived audio played: “For the third time, we told you we are out of service per EMS 2 for relief…I am completely prepared to tell my driver to disembark and I will drive this thing in the inner harbor.”

The issues have persisted for years. In 2021, a 12-year-old child waited about an hour for an ambulance after being involved in a crash in Baltimore City.

Just two weeks ago, a union leader expressed concern about Scott’s use of ARPA funds for the fire department. However, that leader, Matthew Coster, said during the endorsement event that he had been mistaken due to a “communication breakdown,” acknowledging that Scott is working to allocate ARPA money to help the department.

Former Mayor Sheila Dixon responded, saying “Unlike Mayor Scott, I would already have used ARPA money to upgrade the safety equipment they need to protect Baltimoreans and themselves while fighting fires.” Regarding the rotating brownouts during her tenure, Dixon stated those were due to the recession and no fire stations were permanently closed.