As the city of Pittsburgh headed into another round of debate on merging fire stations and improving ambulance response yesterday, residents of Orchlee Street in Brighton Heights considered the prospect of losing a neighborhood keystone.

"It's a point of stability on the street," said Nick Daemous, an antiques dealer who lives across the street from station No. 35, which would see its pumper moved to Marshall-Shadeland under a new plan. "The situation in this neighborhood would be significantly worse if the firehouse wasn't there."

Yesterday, Virginia-based System Planning Corp.'s TriData division made 152 recommendations for the city's Fire and Emergency Medical Services bureaus, including the closure of three fire stations, the movement of another, and the possible elimination of three engine companies and one truck company.

"Nothing is going to happen tomorrow," said Barbara McNees, chairwoman of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, which has the power to withhold approval of city budgets and seize funds. But she made it clear the panel expects the city to take the TriData plan seriously.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said he'll put together a working group to study the recommendations, and pledged to put some of them into his 2009 budget.

"The recommendation of looking at the two fire stations on the North Side, the two merging into one, is something I think has a lot of merit," he said. So does the merger of Greenfield and Hazelwood stations.

The city is "in absolutely no position" to close companies in Arlington, Northview Heights, Squirrel Hill North and Lawrenceville, he added.

Closing fire stations in a city with lots of abandoned buildings and challenging topography is risky, said Joe King, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1. TriData found that the city faced more serious fires than most cities its size, and has a fire death rate 42 percent above the national average.

"Fatalities are the only thing that proves the point," Mr. King said. "We don't want it to come to that."

He said he might stoke "citizen involvement" if station closures start.

The city's been through this before. Under Mayor Tom Murphy, the city considered privatizing EMS or merging it into the Fire Bureau, and cut fire stations from 35 to 29.

TriData echoed a recent audit by City Controller Michael Lamb that found EMS response times are slipping. Both ambulances and fire trucks arrive around a minute later than national standards suggest, in part because they are dispatched too slowly.

TriData said the city shouldn't privatize EMS, but should "thoroughly investigate" merging the two bureaus. In the meantime, the sometimes feuding medics and firefighters should join in "conflict resolution," share training facilities, and shift some duties. Some special rescue operations and basic medical transport might go to the Fire Bureau.

Leaders of both the firefighters and paramedics unions brandished contracts, the former running through 2009, the latter through 2010. Those trump any consultant's plan, they said.

Tony Weinmann, local president of the Fraternal Association of Professional Paramedics, noted that the firefighters say they "need more fire trucks. You can't cut any more houses." Given that, he asked, how could they take on paramedics' duties?

Mr. King said most of his members would welcome expanded roles.

Steve Brezler, project manager for TriData, said the firm is "recommending much more for the organizations" than it would take away. Besides investment in stations and trucks, the consultant wants hiring in the fire prevention area.

"There needs to be a reorientation," he said.

Mr. Ravenstahl estimated the cost of implementing the study at more than $40 million. "That can't probably happen in the course of the next 10 years," he said.

The ICA had allocated $268,000 in state money for the plan. The board voted to extend TriData's role, authorizing $145,000 in consulting work to help the city implement the studies and to study the Bureau of Building Inspection.

On Orchlee Street, Marcia Brown hoped the city takes its time, and leaves the station a few houses away open.

"We need them up here, because they're the best," she said as her kids splashed in a front yard pool. "They're always on time."