By Dwight Ott
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

Nearly 200 Philadelphia firefighters laid siege to the redbrick Fire Department administration building yesterday, blocking traffic for nearly an hour as they protested department cuts and declaring that they have no confidence in Commissioner Lloyd M. Ayers and Mayor Nutter.

The protesters - many bearing personally pointed signs such as "Lloyd is a liar" and "Burn, Nutter, Burn," replete with a flaming devil's image of the mayor - demanded an independent study of what they contend are dangers created by the administration's decision to eliminate five engine companies and two ladder companies.

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A study by the administration and endorsed by Ayers said the areas handled by those companies can be covered safely by adjacent companies. No firefighters have lost their jobs in the reassignment.

In a statement, union officials said that the study was "seriously flawed" and that the International Association of Fire Fighters had found that the cuts "significantly increase fire response time."

Ayers was not available for comment, but Nutter, clearly angry, said of the firefighters: "They're wrong, flat-out wrong. Their kind of action is inappropriate. They're disrespecting citizens and disrespecting the fire service. They need to just cut it out."

Yesterday's protest - police had to reroute traffic around the administration building at Third and Spring Garden Streets - was another escalation by the union, which has nearly 2,200 members and has purchased radio ads and billboards to protest the cuts. The administration contends the closings will save $10 million a year.

Lawsuits to reopen the engine and ladder companies have failed, though a hearing before the state Supreme Court is scheduled for early next month, firefighters union president Brian P. McBride said.

One of the protesters yesterday was Regina Anderson, 25, who said she had been burned out of her home in the 4700 block of Darrah Street in Frankford because of department cutbacks. One of the firehouses from which equipment was removed was within 200 yards of her house, she said, and the fire company that responded did not get there in time to save her home.

Anderson said she and her five children, ages 7 months to 8 years old, are now staying in a motel.

"I'm very upset," she said. "I have nothing."