Lancaster and Columbus firefighters were the first city workers in their communities to step forward with wage concessions to save their jobs and help their mayors balance the municipal budgets.

For that, they received applause from residents and praise from their mayors.

Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman said in his State of the City speech Feb. 26 that he plans to nominate the firefighters for a Profile in Courage Award, given annually by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to elected officials and public servants who, the foundation says, "do what is right rather than what is expedient."

Lancaster Mayor David S. Smith led a standing ovation for the city firefighters in his State of the City speech Feb. 11. The Lancaster firefighters are scheduled to record an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show today via a video hookup from a city firehouse.

Other cities with budget problems took note. Lancaster Fire Chief Steven Sells got a call from the Chillicothe fire chief in Ross County wanting to know how Lancaster made the deal. Firefighter union locals in Toledo and Cincinnati, meanwhile, called Columbus firefighter Jack Reall, president of Local 67 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, with questions.

Firefighters share a unique workplace, eating and sleeping together in their firehouses on 24-hour shifts and working as a team fighting fires and responding to medical emergencies. That family feel contributed to the wage deals, some firefighters said.

"This is the brotherhood," said Lancaster firefighter K.J. Watts, president of Local 291 of the firefighters union.

A significant factor, though, is that firefighters in Columbus and Lancaster already had contracts, so they had something to give up.

Lancaster firefighters saved five jobs through wage concessions that were approved unanimously.

Columbus firefighters agreed to forgo a raise this year in an open-ended deferral that could last through the current contract, which ends in June 2010.

Columbus and Lancaster police said they, too, would like to be budget heroes, but they are both negotiating three-year contracts.

"We're not greedy. We are willing to do it," said Lancaster Police Officer Jim Marshall, who represents his local Fraternal Order of Police bargaining unit.

Police and firefighters have a tradition of ribbing and rivalry, often competing in charity sports games. Lancaster police are feeling like a "redheaded stepchild" compared with the heralded firefighters, Marshall said.

But police have the same camaraderie and love of community as firefighters, he insisted, and want to help out their city budget.

The city administration rejected the officers' offer to take no wage increase this year in return for something more in the next two years. The administration would like a one-year contract, not knowing what lies ahead for the economy.

Columbus police want to help, too, said Sgt. Jim Gilbert, president of the FOP's Capital City Lodge No. 9. Gilbert said the union has not ruled out wage concessions.

People have approached firefighters on the street and in grocery stores to thank them. "I could not be more proud of the members for what they have done," Reall said.

Coleman said that is why he is nominating them for the Kennedy award. "I believe these firefighters deserve strong consideration for reminding us all what it means to go beyond the call of duty in difficult times," he said.

Dispatch reporter Robert Vitale contributed to this story.

mlane@dispatch.com