Chiefs Propose Pay For Newtown Firefighters

By John Voket

If the concept makes it through this year’s budget process, Newtown may have a paid fire department by early summer. Kevin Cragin, chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners floated the concept Wednesday night, backed by chiefs from the two local fire companies that would house the full-time day shift employees.

While the two positions could cost taxpayers well over $100,000 in the first year after salaries, benefits, and equipment are factored in, both Hook and Ladder Chief Ray Corbo and town Fire Marshal and Sandy Hook Chief William Halstead made a solid case for the investment.

“We handled 1,200 calls in 2005, and that number is going higher and higher,” Chief Halstead told the selectmen during the second night of three budget deliberation sessions being held at the Senior Center. “We’re seeing increasing delays getting the first engines out. Sometimes it takes us five to six minutes to get out of the firehouse, when the national [response] standard is getting an engine to the scene in five or six minutes.”

Chief Corbo echoed the concern.

“The issue is the same in every district. It’s getting tough to get drivers to the station, especially during the day shift,” he said.

Speaking to The Bee following the session, the chiefs explained that in recent years, the number of certified drivers who used to be employed by the dozens at Newtown businesses have dwindled to just a few who are still employed in the local private sector and in municipal capacities like at the Highway Department.

Chief Halstead also noted that besides the obvious safety factor, Newtown’s national ISO rating, a standard on which property insurance rates are assessed related to fire protection, would likely be lowered with paid first responders in station. That favorable ISO rating adjustment could spell millions of dollars saved by property owners across the community in the coming years.

“And when we’re talking about a fire, that five or six minutes more could mean the difference between property damage in one room, or a total structural loss,” Chief Corbo said. He said those few minutes also represent precious life-saving time when responders are dispatched to a fire, vehicle accident, or other rescue call.

During discussion on the proposal, Chief Halstead told the selectmen that the town could minimize the financial impact of bringing on two paid day shift firefighters by applying for federal grants similar to those offered to police departments. Those programs typically pay up to 100 percent of the salaries the first year, with incremental step-downs over the subsequent four years, leaving the town with a phased in salary structure and the full cost hitting the budget in five years .

Mr Cragin’s proposal calls for one certified firefighter, possessing a CDL Class B driver’s license, to be stationed during weekday shifts at Hook and Ladder, and a second firefighter at the Sandy Hook station. He said these are the two busiest stations, typically responding to every structure fire call, commercial alarm, and other major incidents anywhere in town.

Those same fire departments also proposed new command vehicles totaling $58,000. While Hook and Ladder requested a four-wheel-drive SUV at $32,000, Sandy Hook is opting for a $26,000 full-size cab pickup truck that could haul a specially equipped trailer designed to carry the department’s off-road quad.

That unit is available townwide for special incidents including off-road rescues and brushfires, Chief Halstead explained.

“We could get four guys in the cab and respond with the trailer attached to anywhere in town in just a few minutes,” he said.

Chief Corbo added that in local incidents where on-call officers would head to the scene directly with the new command vehicles, a faster arrival could significantly diminish the number of times heavy apparatus has to roll out to false alarms or multistation calls requiring scaled-back response.

After further discussion on several other elements including new fire apparatus and routine items in the fire department budget, the selectmen tentatively endorsed a $1,096,419 proposal.

During Monday’s budget session, Police Chief Michael Kehoe was on hand pitching for an unprecedented number of new vehicles. Among the police department’s nearly $3.5 million budget allocation request for 2006-2007 are six new Ford Crown Victorias, which would replace current active duty counterparts nearing or past the typical range of mileage for such vehicles.

Police Commissioner Richard Simon was on hand backing up the chief’s request.

“This car is their office,” he said. “But these officers go out and put their lives on the line, so we want it to be the best it can be.”

Mr Simon explained that compared to even most state police cruisers that can be sustained with more than 100,000 miles of primarily highway mileage, Newtown cruisers can log nearly the same number of miles “driving on the roughest roads in town.”

Chief Kehoe added that on certain days, depending on how shifts are staggered, the cars can be in service for 24 hours at a time without ever being turned off. And each cycle that vehicles stay in service adds significant wear and tear that impacts the time they are out of service, as well as the safety factor for officers who drive them, Mr Simon added.

“We have to actually look a little under 18 months down the road,” Chief Kehoe said. “If you were to project out that far, and couldn’t fund every cruiser, once you add the [extra] projected mileage, you can imagine what that vehicle would look like.”

Among several other budget considerations proposed in the police line were the second phase of a new weapons purchase, a new uninterrupted power supply that would keep department computers and communications systems running during power failures, as well as two in-car computer systems and surveillance equipment.

Much like the fire department, the selectmen discussed underwriting opportunities through state or federal grants for part of the police requests, to help take some of the burden off taxpayers. The final selectmen’s budget session, where all proposed allocation requests were expected to be finalized, was scheduled for Thursday, January 26, at 7:30 pm at the senior center.