Many years ago, when the Baltimore Fire Department first began a rotating closure of fire companies to save money (the practice long predates this administration), a union official told me it was like playing Russian Roulette with people's lives.

This morning, one man died and a woman was injured in a rowhouse fire in the 3100 block of Presstman St. in West Baltimore (pictures at left by The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum). The truck company, Truck 18, located just six block away on North Avenue, had shut for the day. Engine 20 out of the same station, along with a medic, responded.

Trucks have the ladders and equipment needed for firefighters to make entry, perform rescues and break down doors and windows. Engines have water or are used to hook up to fire hydrants. Both are needed to properly respond to a fire.

A department spokesman is saying they are investigating response times to see whether a truck dispatched from another fire station made it in a reasonable amount of time and whether it would've made any difference. That will be the big question today; with Truck 18 down (station seen below), from where and from what distance did the other truck have to come and was that good enough?

Capt. Stephan G. Fugate, president of the Baltimore Fire Officer's union and a long critic of the rotating closures, told the Baltimore Sun's Liz Kay that the next nearest Truck company was two miles from Presstman Street when it was dispatched. "Those extra 90 seconds in the early stages of a fire .... that's is the difference between life and death." Noting a truck company's role in leading rescue efforts, he said: "You're placing civilians and our own members in jeopardy."

This morning's fire comes just two days after Fire Chief James S. Clack proposed shuttering three fire stations permanently. He said that would mean rotating closures would be limited to three each day; they now close fire companies every day. Mayor Sheila Dixon scaled back that plan, however, agreeing to close only one station. That means four companies will be closed each night.

Clack, speaking on WBAL-Radio this morning, did not directly answer whether Truck 18 would've made any difference in fighting the fire on Presstman Street. Here is what he had to say:

“Unfortunately what happened last night, the station has an engine and a truck. Just before we got the call to the fire, there was a  false alarm further to the west received. Engine 20 that was in the station with truck 18 and the engine was sent to the false alarm. They had to turn around and come back to their district. Tthat delayed getting the first engine to the fire."

"That's going to happen. We’re going to have fires near stations … It’s inevitable that  we’re going to have fires close to a station or a company that was rotated closed."

"I think we're to the point where we can't do much more of this."

The city has 36 engines and 18 truck companies and he said if five are closed each day, "That’s 10 percent of our surpression force. That’s a lot. I don't think it's prudent for us to keep increasing the rotating closures ... We need to have a serious discussion about where we go from here."

A few weeks, ago a bar owned by firefighters burned in Locust Point and one of the fire companies based on East Fort Avenue was shut. An engine had to come from Brooklyn, delaying the response time to a fire that involved the firefighters' own.

Firefighters have responded with vitriolic comments on the closures over the years. Some samples from the Maryland listing (made before this morning's fire) in The Watchdesk, a public comment forum for firefighters across the nation: