Amid complaints from volunteer firefighters, Ambridge officials have restructured the borough's fire department to require its four full-time paid firefighters to take on other duties while they wait to respond to fires.

The plan, which went into effect this week, calls for full-time, paid firefighters to perform duties for other borough departments when they aren't fighting fires. Borough officials say the new duties are necessary to cut costs, but volunteer firefighters said they fear it will take paid officers longer to respond to fires.

For years, the Beaver County borough of about 7,800 people has been served by a combination of paid full-time and volunteer firefighters. Until last month, the borough had four full-time paid firefighters who took turns providing around-the-clock coverage in the fire hall along with about 18 volunteers who responded when summoned.

But increases in health care, insurance and other costs this year left council members facing a $380,000 shortfall for 2004 even after raising real-estate taxes two mills, borough Manager Pamela Caskie said. Council members concluded that Ambridge no longer could afford a full-time force, she said, but they also didn't want to lay off employees.

So instead, borough officials came up with a "hybrid'' plan in which the four paid employees would be on call to fight fires, but would also work for other borough departments during their work shifts, Caskie said. They will take turns being on call at night and on weekends, and their unions have agreed to the plan, she said.

Fire Chief David Drewnowski will retain his position but also will handle fire-safety inspections and other tasks and a firefighter who also is a certified police officer will work for the police department. The other paid firefighters will be assigned to the street and code-enforcement departments.

"We will keep [the firefighters] on standby and will use them in other places in the community. We thought this was better than laying everyone off,'' said Caskie, who estimated the change will save about $100,000 for the borough. "This way, there will be a guaranteed response to a fire.''

But some volunteer firefighters held a news conference yesterday to protest the plan.

Capt. Michael Longo, the highest-ranking volunteer officer, said he fears that paid firefighters -- who are the only ones permitted to drive fire trucks by a borough ordinance -- will be tied up with other jobs away from the fire hall when a fire is reported.

Longo said volunteers will send a letter to borough officials, saying they don't want to be blamed if slower response times result in a loss of life or serious injury in a fire. Ambridge is barely two miles square, but even a short trip to the fire hall before heading to the fire could be critical, he said.

"You could have five [volunteers] standing around at a fire waiting while the other [paid] guys are still going back to grab the truck,'' Longo said. Caskie, however, said borough officials have received only a few complaints about the plan.