Branford misses safety deadlines

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EDITORIAL
Branford misses safety deadlines

A New Haven Register editorial

December 12, 2000

Branford's Fire Department can't adequately trained its firefighters but it has shown astonishing proficiency in missing deadlines for getting the job down.

As head of the department, much of the blame rests with Peter Buonome, the fire chief. The department and the town should have been jolted into action after the death of a volunteer fireman, Edward Ramos, in a 1996 Thanksgiving fire. Citations from the state for serious safety lapses in fighting the fire should have reinforced the town's determination to act.

Instead, this August the state fined Branford again for failing to complete training needed to save firefighters' lives.

By then the chief had missed the town's own deadline for improvement. In July, the fire commission suspended Buonome from his job for not meeting its June 30 deadline for safety improvements. The chief claimed that vacations had delayed the training.

After the most recent safety fine, town officials became more actively involved. First Selectman Anthony DaRos expressed confidence the town would meet the state's new deadline of Oct. 30 for fixing all of the safety violations.

The town's involvement has speeded up the safety work. DaRos, however, does not control the safety training.

Buonome missed the October deadline. Now the Fire Department wants the deadline for completion of all the safety training extended again.

Priscilla Bollack, the town's director of human resources, has told the fire commission that as of Nov. 20 none of the full-time firefighters had been completely trained. Of 119 volunteers, only 15 were fully trained.

One full-time firefighter and 23 volunteers still haven't been trained in a system to account for firefighters' location at fires. In the confusion of the 1996 fire, supervisors initially believed there was no one inside the burning flooring store where Ramos was trapped.

Firefighters who have not received the necessary training have been told not to respond to fires or emergencies, Buonome said. That's a step in the right direction. But, it is too little and disgracefully late.