Planning for the future at the fire department

By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

The City of Somerville recently received word from Washington that our Fire Department would be receiving an $843,400 matching grant under the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program administered by U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  We immediately announced that, starting in July of this year, we would be using that money to hire eight new firefighters.

Obviously, a one-time matching grant doesn't mean that the federal government will be subsidizing these new positions forever, but it does provide crucial start-up funding to build long-term departmental resources.  But there are competing views about how best to deploy those resources - and a healthy debate about how best to reshape and enhance the Somerville Fire Department in order to embrace new technologies and to meet the new challenges of a changing urban environment.

We should, therefore, be especially grateful to our Washington delegation - and particularly Congressman Michael Capuano and Senator Ted Kennedy - not only for helping the city secure a major public safety grant, but for delivering those resources at a time when we are mapping the future of our fire department and its capabilities.

Somerville already enjoys a very high standard of firefighting service from a well-trained and well-equipped department. As you might expect in a city of only 4.1 square miles and five fire stations, our major incident response times are among the best in the region and well within the recommended guidelines. Our equipment is in solid shape: we took delivery on a new ladder truck last spring, we recently took delivery on a new command vehicle and three new (hybrid) fire inspection vehicles; and we will be deploying a new pumper later this year. Since I took office, we have also provided our firefighters with all-new bunker gear and exercise equipment.

But there is always room for improvement, and there can be no question that the department, and the public it serves, will benefit from a comprehensive reassessment of its mission and resources.

For example, and as Chief Kevin Kelleher reported at the Board of Aldermen's Jan. 30 Public Safety Committee, the Fire Department is running a $300,000 overtime deficit.  There are many legitimate reasons that firefighters miss their regular shifts - and good reasons that the deportment needs to call in off-duty firefighters. But it's clear that we can manage these costs more efficiently with additional staffing - which is one of the most important reasons to increase the overall size of the department. (Adding more firefighters also creates more frequent opportunities to detach personnel from their regular duties in order to receive specialized training.)

In addition, the hiring of eight more firefighters gives us the opportunity to explore the potential for developing and deploying a specialized rescue and/or hazardous materials (hazmat) company equipped with an appropriate new vehicle.

It would be a mistake, however, to look at these changes, or any other improvements at the fire department, in isolation. As we have learned from the development and implementation of our comprehensive reorganization plan for the Somerville Police, there are tremendous advantages to bringing in a highly qualified outside advisory group to advise the city on how to plan for the future in the area of public safety, and to map out a long-term plan to get the most from our public safety dollars, adopt best practices from around the region and nation, and embrace the best new technologies to improve our capabilities and measure our performance.

To that end, I am moving immediately to convene a fire department advisory group to develop a set of long-term recommendations about how to improve our staffing patterns, command structure, management practices, equipment and capabilities in order to meet the needs of a changing city and a changing fire-rescue environment. This new panel will include experts in the public safety and fire safety field, as well as distinguished representatives from other fire and public safety agencies, and from the Somerville community.

It's truly wonderful to have received federal dollars to enhance our fire department - and there's no question that we'll be expanding the ranks of the department and adding new equipment over time. But, as we have been reminded by our successful police reorganization effort, we need to make sure that we make staffing and equipment decisions in the context of an overall strategic plan. The creation of an advisory group is in the best interest both of our department and of the community it has always served with courage and skill.

Comments

[The King]

Exercise equipment? I haven't seen much evidence of them using that! ha ha

I would rather see money go to the Fire Department that some other BS program.

[Jack Bates]

8 new firefighters? Those will suck up $843,400 pretty fast. And then they'll be a permanent added expense for the city, which we will have to cover. Given that the Fire Department brings in no revenues, I don't see how this is good news. Just more city workers idling. Let me understand: To make up for the 300Ks in overtime, we spend 800Ks in new personnel?
Without a revenue plan, I don't see how a one-time matching grant can be used to commit the city to a permanent increase in costs.

[Cosmo]

Thank you Mayor for protecting our city. There is no question that you are the greatest Mayor this City has ever known! Good job Mayor!

[Kramer]

Some good ideas. Tell us in comparison the OT budget at the Police dept.? Can you also provide us some numbers from your 311 system? Keep up the good work Mr. Mayor.

[One of the guys]

I could go on and on about our fire dept. The men are using the exercise equipment on a regular basis, with additional assistance from outside agencies on health and exercise. Quite possibly it's the fact that the median age is in the mid forties that makes us look like we are not in shape. Let me assure you dollar for dollar our men still do the grunt work that our predecessors did before us. They set the bar and we have maintained and often surpassed. A rescue in the city is long overdue, any rescue. I look forward to this unit coming to Somerville, the sooner the better. As far as the 8 new hires go, we are still understaffed. Part of this understaffing has led to physical injuries due to the men of your fire department going above and beyond at emergencies to the point where they get hurt or physically exhaust themselves. We should be a proactive community, not a reactive one. Who is going to die before someone says we should have done something.

[kev]

Thank you to Mayor Curtatone, Congressmen Capuano, Senator Kennedy, Chief Kelleher and anyone else who worked very hard to get this grant for the Somerville Fire Department. The addition of 8 new firefighters is greatly needed as this department is severly understaffed. This is a step in the right direction and hopefully it will continue. I do have a few things I would like to ask.

1. Mayor Curtatone, in the past you said on more than one occassion that getting Engine 4 back in service was your NUMBER 1 PRIORITY. What happened? Why is this no longer a priority to you? Do you remember saying these words? We certainly do. Maybe like the "Texas CON-MAN" Roger Clemens said, you "misremembered".

2. Where will the City come up with the money the funds to purchases this new rescue/pumper? We didn't have any money to get Engine 4 back in service and now you are telling me that the City is suddenly going to find somewhere in the neighborhood of $500,000 to $1 million for the vehicle, equipment for the vehicle and the specialized training that all of the Somerville firefighters will need to go through to operate this rescue/pumper/haz-mat vehicle.

3. Who do you plan on having on this advisory group? I pray that it is not the same geniuses who decided to put the firefighters stationed in Union Sqaure into double-wide trailers as a "temporary housing solution". For the good people of Somerville who are not aware, the Union Square Fire Station flooded during a major rain storm in June of 1998. Over the next few months dangerous mold and mildew grew inside the walls of the living quarters of this station and many of the firefighters were hit with many different health issues. When the mold was discovered the station quarters became uninhabitable and the firefighters were moved into the trailers as a "temporary solution". This year will mark 10 years that they have been living in these trailers. Almost all of the victims of Hurricane Katrina have moved out of their temporary housing trailers. Can you please tell me how much money the City of Somerville has shelled out over the past 10 years to lease these trailers? Any plan on the horizon to get the firefighters out of the trailers?

4. Has there been any discussion by the City to put a substation for the fire department in the Assembly Square development. There is an enormous amount of residential units planned there along with a hotel and many businesses and offices along with the massive IKEA store.

5. I read the City press release on the SAFER GRANT award. Can Tom Champion stand up and clarify this statement: "The purchase of a new rescue and pumper unit will improve the city’s ability to respond to rescue calls currently handled by police and EMT units." Please shed a light on what kind of calls are currently handled by the police and EMT units that the fire department does not respond to.

I look forward to a response to these questions, but like the return of Engine 4 to full time service I am not going to hold my breath.

[Margaret]

The Somerville Fire Department is GREAT. If you've ever had a fire, these guys run like clockwork to save your house.

I'm thrilled to hear that they're getting the staff they need. The times I've needed to deal with them, they've been prompt, efficient and courteous.

[old boy's club]

i like how mike C. gets Joey C. money for more firemen that we can't afford in the long run and then I see a "Mayor's Request" that joey C. puts his kid on the planning board at the aldermen meeting last week. just like somerville, its the old boy's club as always.

[John]

Like other people stated what about engine 4 it runs great and they are only re-hiring the 8 firefighters they laid off when they shut down engine 4 so they really are not NEW firefighters and i read a study that a city this densly populated should have close to 200 firefighters and we only have about 130 now so i dont know why he is painting such a rosy picture(the mayor)

[Cosmo]

old boy's club - you are out of your mind!

[Mole]

I would like to ask Mr. Curtatone how he plans to pay for the new firefighters after the grant is over.
Furthermore, I predict that the 300K expense for overtime will be the same, if not worse, AFTER hiring the additional firefighters. Next year, you can look back at this thread, and realize I was correct.

[feelingsafeinsomerville]

Why is everyone worried about public safety, we have public safety expert Tom Champion and a mayor who can hide behind him.

[Growing nose]

funny how the city takes the credit for federal monies. Maybe we can add discusting fire station conditions to the discussion. Leaking roofs, mold, cracked walls, flooding basements, un serviced ventilation systems, missing flooring, holes in ceilings. Oh, and a "temporary" trailer being used as a fire station (one of the busiest in the COUNTRY) for 10 years...Thanks Joe, and Dot, and Mike.

[Son of Sam]

Cosmo stick your head up your ???? and wish you had a brain greatst Mayor he should be tied to Clean Genie and thrown in the Mystic.

[Atropine83]

Currently the Somerville Fire Department responds to Medical calls as "First responders." They can give oxygen, take vital signs, and do CPR amongst a few other basic life support procedures. Cataldo Ambulance, a private service, provides the emergency medical care, advanced life support, and transport. In the state of massachusetts, prehospital medicine cannot be billed for unless transport occurs. With the addition of a rescue, if the city decides to use it as a transporting medical unit and hire paramedics or more EMTs (many of the current firefighters currently hold this certification), it can generate income this way, using the private service as a backup. Adding a transporting rescue or an ambulance rescue could easily justify the salaries of 8 firefighters in a city as heavily populated and as busy as Somerville. Cambridge has been using a system like I have just described for a few years now.
This funding is necessary and well deserved.

[Cosmo]

Son of Sam that sounds like a threat to do bodily harm to our great Mayor. Hope the police don't launch an investigation.

[Minnesota Joe]

Any "advisory group " that does not also include members of the fire department that are elected by thier peers is an exercise in failure. Unless that is what your mayor wants.

Mr. Mayor, be careful what you ask for as well. Many times, LEGITMATE advisory groups, expose more problems than cities have the resources and dollars to address.

Be careful what you ask for....you might just get it.

[Fred Sanford]

Hey Joe WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THAT RUN DOWN OCEAN FRONT PROPERTY OF YOURS DOWN ON SWIFTS BEACH IN WAREHAM? YOU KNOW THE ONE . THE ONE WITH THE BIG RED X ON THE FRONT OF IT. ITS AN EYES SORE JOE

[Badrinath]

If your building does not fit all of these categories, then the new law does not apply to you since your property is already subject to the more strict state law.