The good news for Minneapolis' Longfellow community is that Fire Station 21 finally is back at full strength with two trucks.
That means fire and medical response times in the area should no longer rank among the city's worst.
But the bad news for the Fire Department is that the city budgeted only three new positions in 2008. That means Chief James Clack had to cannibalize from other stations to find the dozen firefighters needed to man the second truck 24/7.
Five years after state aid cuts forced Minneapolis to tighten the city budget, the Fire Department remains one of the city's most money-starved departments. Two other stations still operate with only one truck each, meaning that fires or other emergency calls in surrounding neighborhoods often get slower response than the national five-minute standard the city has endorsed.
Property tax support for firefighters has risen only 12 percent since those 2003 budget cuts, compared with 29 percent for the average city department, and 32 percent for police.
That's despite residents ranking fire and emergency services as the most important service the city provides -- even slightly ahead of police -- in a 2005 city survey.
Yet fire deaths and injuries continue to trend downward despite the tight budgets. The city had two fire deaths last year, tied with 2006 for the lowest number since at least 2000. Fire victim injuries dropped to 21, the lowest in that span.
So was the department overstaffed before cuts? Clack says no. He said the improving record reflects better fire prevention, more training, better technology and newer buildings. But the biggest factor: "We've got some excellent people."