Charleston - Huntington, West Virginia -- WOWK -- 13NewsCharleston officers fight both fires and crime?

The city of Charleston has had some major cuts to the fire department.

Now, at least one public official is suggesting instead of making any more cuts workers could fight both fires and crime.

Tom Lane, president of Charleston City Council, said he thinks police officers could be trained to also fight fires.

"The fact of the matter is when an event occurs it's usually a police officer first at the scene," said Lane.

Lane said other cities across the country have done it…the officers are called public service officer. They are cross-trained as both a cop and firefighters.

Chuck Overstreet, chief of Charleston Fire Department, said he doesn't think the idea would work.

"He suggested an officer be first on the scene, but one person can't do anything anyway," said Overstreet. "The officer would have to stand there, in his bunker gear, and wait for the crew to get there."

Overstreet said he thinks the idea could get confusing because of pay, supervisors, and different personalities that have decided to take on different careers.

"We both train for very different reasons…I don't want to dodge bullets and most of those guys don't want to crawl inside a fire" said Overstreet.

He said the fire department has already made enough cuts to its budget reducing 27 positions, changing many of the crews from three to two, and putting trucks out of service.

Overstreet said they are also desperately in need of paramedics and anymore changes or cuts could be detrimental.

"I think we've cut $1.75 million dollars since I became chief and we've lost a fire station," said Overstreet.

Councilman Lane said he believes the idea of cross-training could be cost-saving and says the city needs to come up with a long-term plan.

Tuesday, a grant from FEMA was approved, at city council, for the fire department. Chief Overstreet said it would help and he hopes to get some paramedics hired.

Lane said the cross-training issue has only been suggested and he'd like council to look more into it.

"It's something we could look at, but change is always controversial," said Lane.

Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster also talked to him he said he would research the matter, but also had his doubts.