(UPDATED July 4: Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Fire Chief James Clack have not yet come to a firm conclusion about whether to keep or close the three fire companies, sources say. Still no comment on the situation from the mayor’s office or from Clack, as city firefighters say the lack of a decision is “driving down  morale.”)

In a just-released internal order obtained by The Brew, the Baltimore City Fire Department has postponed the disbandments of Trucks 10 and 15 and Squad 11 from Thursday to Monday, July 9.

This is the second delay of the controversial decision by the Rawlings-Blake administration to close firefighting companies that serve some of Baltimore’s most impoverished neighborhoods, areas with heavy concentrations of fire-prone vacant houses.

The general order does not give a reason for the postponement, but says Engine Company 33 will be transferred to the Montford Ave. fire station of Truck 15 on Monday morning.

Silence from Mayor’s Office

Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright did not respond to a request for comment.

The department has repeatedly avoided discussing the company closings. The latest news release on the BCFD website is not about the status of the company closings, but that “Illegal Fireworks Are Dangerous” during the Fourth of July.

There was also no statement from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, whom The Brew reported is rethinking her stance on closing the companies.

Ryan O’Doherty, the mayor’s spokesmen, has issued dozens of press releases about the mayor’s involvement in the power outages stemming from last Friday’s storm, but has not yet responded to requests for comment about the fire company closings.

The Brew has written extensively about the potential effect of the fire closings on citizen safety, which would result in only about $750,000 in savings over the next year.

Endangered Truck Companies 10 and 15 have alone handled more than 70 medical emergency and heat-exhaustion cases arising from the storm and power outages since last Friday.