Sacramento- A burning question lingers as the public learns more and more about the bad-boy firefighters working for the city of Sacramento.

Just what does it take to get fired at the Sacramento Fire Department?

I don’t know.

The public doesn’t know.

I’m not sure Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo, City Manager Bob Thom as or Fire Chief Joe Cherry could tell us, either.

In mid-October, city officials called a press conference to show the public they were cleaning house, terminating seven firefighters; two others resigned in lieu of termination.

An investigation revealed that the firefighters in question drank on the job, used city fire trucks to pick up women at nightclubs for joy rides, partied at a hotel porn-star ball while on duty and other breaches of city policies so obvious it makes your head swim to think anyone would even consider such behavior while supposedly working.

The firings were a sad but necessary chapter in the history of the 131-year-old fire department. In all, 24 firefighters were disciplined.

But unbeknownst to the public, two days after the Oct. 12 press conference announcing the firings, with the entire City Council standing there, solemn but resolute, the fire chief sent five of the firefighters letters saying they’d be suspended without pay instead of losing their jobs. There was no press conference announcing that. The punishments ranged from 120 hours to 240 hours, the harshest equaling 10 shifts.

Almost sounds like a vacation to me.

The five – Scott Singleton, Anthony Ramirez, Charles Clayborne, Troy Doehrer and Patrick Willard – were reinstated by the fire chief and City Manager Bob Thomas on the grounds they otherwise had clean records, making them “salvageable.”

But that’s only a slice of the real story. It all comes down to money – not whether any of the five actually deserve to wear the uniform. The firefighters’ powerful union threatened to sue the city to get the firefighters’ jobs back; such court battles are costly. The city blinked. Guess who’s back on the job in no time at all?

If this wasn’t so disturbing, it would almost be funny. From time to time, the fire department chastises the public for false alarms because taking out the big equipment costs the city a boatload of money. I recently received a copy of the bill the city sent my insurer for an ambulance ride from this same fire department. Six miles. One thousand bucks.

And poor Lauren Hammond, the City Council member representing the district protected in part by Station 6. While a Station 6 fire crew bar-hopped among nightspots mostly in City Councilman Steve Cohn’s district, were the good residents of Hammond’s district left unprotected?

The abuses of position are shocking. A Station 6 apparatus driver drank on the job, then drove his crew out on emergencies. Women picked up at nightclubs went out on fire calls. Firefighters from Station 20 took an on-duty run over to Goldie’s Adult Store to get a porn star’s autograph.

It almost seems like the firefighters involved, professionals charged with life-and-death decisions, should be canned for sheer stupidity. Did they really think they could turn the city’s big, rumbling fire trucks into babe magnets and not have someone rat them out? A complaint from a citizen irked at how her tax dollars were being spent (duh!) sparked some of the early investigations.

The firefighters’ original termination letters pointed out that their behavior brought “discredit” to the city. Ha! Worldwide snickers is more accurate. If you don’t believe that, jump on the Internet and search “firefighters,” “Sacramento,” “porn” and “ball.” They’ve been talking about this as far away as China and Germany.

Responding to allegations back in September, Fargo said it appeared the department needed “to weed out some people.” Hey, mayor. Even the most aggressive weed in the garden doesn’t make a comeback after two days.

What does it take to get the boot from the Sacramento Fire Department? Honestly, I couldn’t tell you.