Date: Fri 08-Jan-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Fairfield-Hills-fire

Full Text:

Talks Stalled Over Fire Protection At Fairfield Hills

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

The town and state have reached an impasse over a proposed agreement which

would have the town's volunteer fire companies provide primary fire protection

at the state-owned Fairfield Hills.

Talks between the town and state over a Fairfield Hills fire protection

agreement had been progressing during recent months until hitting an impasse

over how the state would compensate the volunteer fire companies for

responding to fire calls at the sprawling former state mental hospital.

"Now, we're at odds over it," First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal said this

week.

Town officials believed they had reached an agreement with the state

Department of Public Works (DPW) under which each volunteer fire company would

be paid $500 for each fire call it responded to at Fairfield Hills, Mr

Rosenthal explained.

However, the state attorney general's office modified that proposed agreement.

Under that revision, the state would provide only $500 per fire call, not $500

to each volunteer fire company which responded to a fire call.

Mr Rosenthal said Town Attorney David Grogins will seek to resolve the issue

with the state. Mr Rosenthal said he's hopeful an agreement can be reached.

Fairfield Hills formerly was served by its own small fire department composed

of people who worked at the facility. Town and state firefighters had had a

mutual aid fire protection agreement under which each would provide the other

with assistance in fighting fires, when requested.

After Fairfield Hills closed in December 1995, a small core of state

firefighters remained to protect the largely vacant complex.

In May 1997, the Fairfield Hills fire chief retired from service, leaving

little formal fire protection for the facility.

Also in May 1997, the town's Board of Fire Commissioners terminated the town's

mutual aid fire pact with the state. That move came to prevent town

firefighters from being automatically dispatched to Fairfield Hills fire calls

in light of the scant firefighting force then stationed there.

After Fairfield Hills closed, local firefighters expressed reluctance to

assume primary firefighting responsibilities for the complex. They expressed

concerns over the extent of their duties at the facility which contains more

than a million feet of enclosed space.

Mr Rosenthal said the town and the state-run Garner Correctional Institution

were able to reach a firefighting agreement, but reaching fire pact between

the town and the state over Fairfield Hills has proven more elusive.

The agreement between the town and Garner specifies town responsibilities in

the event town firefighters are called to an emergency at the high-security

prison on Nunnawauk Road.

Mr Rosenthal said a fire protection agreement between the town and the state

for Fairfield Hills would remain in effect until the state sells Fairfield

Hills. The state is marketing the property for private redevelopment.

After Fairfield Hills is under private ownership, fire protection there would

be handled as fire protection is handled elsewhere in town, by the local

volunteer fire companies, Mr Rosenthal said.

Volunteer firefighters solicit donations from businesses and residents to

defray the cost of providing services.