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09/14/2018 08:39 AMAfter 13 years without a significant manpower increase, Branford Fire Department (BFD) will be adding eight new firefighter/paramedic positions, with costs initially assisted by a federal grant. The major staffing bump – up 22 percent -- should help ease the strain BFD has been experiencing with staff stretched thin, volunteer numbers down, and rising call volumes.
Since 2005, the last time a BFD manpower plan increase was implemented (from six firefighters per shift to eight per shift), calls have risen by about 35 percent, said Branford Fire Chief Thomas Mahoney. The new hires will allow a manpower plan increase to 10 firefighters per shift.
The estimated annual cost for the staff increase will be $1.2 million; with costs to be partially offset in the first four years with help from a federal grant. Mahoney and Fire Commission chair Robert Massey Jr. spearheaded the successful application for a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant. The $1.46 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be spread out so that it will greatly reduce the town's costs in year one, then ratchet down assistance dollars over the next three years.
On Sept. 12, at the recommendation of the Board of Finance, the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) gave the final Town vote needed to approve the hiring. The RTM voted unanimously to approve the fire chief's request to transfer $279,630 from contingency funding to help fulfill the town's obligation in the first year of the SAFER grant. The transfer will assist with costs for wages and salaries, vacation, sick pay, holiday pay, stipends and uniform/clothing allowances for the eight additional hires.
At the Sept. 12 RTM meeting, Ways and Means Committee chairman Peter Black (R, District 3), together with Public Services Committee chairman Donald Conklin (R, District 5-), reported to the full RTM what had been learned in committee the week before (both committees voted unanimously to recommend the fire chief's request to the full RTM).
With the approved hiring plan, the town is agreeing to take on a $1.2 million annual cost, which is a one percent increase to the Town's annual budget, Black said.
"We've got this federal grant that eases the pain financially, but I think we need to have our eyes open about this. The federal government is picking up the majority of that cost for the first year, and then it starts to tail off," said Black. "It's a one percent increase in our overall budget; but this is being driven by the fact that all of us are getting older [and] not only individually getting older; we're getting older as a town, and that means more health problems. The other driver is a tail-off in volunteers. This [increase] should give us the fire protection that we should have. Anybody in public service will tell you they need more; it's a sort of an infinite demand. But it's a balance between how much risk do we want to take, and how much money do we want to spend. And I think a lot of people that have been skeptical for a long time have decided we're taking too much risk, we need to lessen that risk, and just pay the piper."
While BFD's ambulance service currently generates $1.9 million in revenue to offset department costs, the amount of revenue being generated is based on call volume and won't be changed by increasing staff; so there is no expectation of increased ambulance revenue to help offset the cost of the new hires, Black added. He did note that, due to adding the new staff, the town will experience a savings of $50,000 in fire department overtime costs.
Conklin said his committee reviewed the fire chief's statistics on staffing numbers and call volume increases, at which point, "...it became clear to me that we have stretched the middle too thin," said Conklin.
In recent weeks, Conklin said, "...chiefs and assistants have manned ambulances or medic calls. And I, for one, would prefer not having the administration out on calls."
Immediately following the RTM vote on September 12, Mahoney told Zip06/The Sound the hiring process will begin right away.
"We received the grant on August 31 and that actually started the time line; and they give us 180 days for us to hire, which brings us into February," said Mahoney.
He also explained how the three-year SAFER grant will assist the town for the next four years.
"The plan we presented to the Board of Finance was to actually start with mid-year funding; so that it takes this grant, which is funded over a period of three years, and spreads it out over four years of our budget; which kind of spreads the pain. While we do bring in $1.9 million in revenue; that offsets the cost; it certainly doesn't pay for it. Our people are our most important asset; but they're also our most expensive asset," said the chief.
The department's ongoing process to review its staffing needs started following the loss of Branford firefighter Edward Ramos in the Floors and More Inc. warehouse fire on Thanksgiving Day, 1996.
"We had a very comprehensive study done and it was determined at that time that we needed increased staffing," said Mahoney. "We did increase some staffing in '97 – '98; we went from a five-person shift to a six-person shift. And then we added some part-time staffing to help with the EMS side; and also incrementally added until 2005, when we went to an eight-person shift. In the meantime, our call volume has risen significantly; about 35 percent."