A Buffalo-area suburb is expected to shift its ambulance service to a private company if a judge blocks its efforts to reduce staffing levels, reports the Buffalo News.

The City of Lockport has begun discussions about outsourcing the service, following a court battle with the local firefighter union, after the city attempted to reduce staffing on each shift from nine to seven firefighters.

A meeting to initiate the outsourcing bid was canceled after State Supreme Court Justice Ralph A. Boniello III issued a temporary restraining order halting the city's reductions.

The city is expected to eliminate the service if it wins the lawsuit, Fire Chief Thomas Passuite wrote in an affidavit quoted by the Buffalo News.

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