Izzo Irked by Plan to Close Fire Station

March 29, 2002

By Don Casciato

John Izzo, the Republican selectman who in recent months has taken on a more high-profile role of the loyal opposition in town affairs, yesterday said he was against closing the Green's Farms fire station and also opposed to hiring new firefighters.

"This step of closing Green's Farms would be very dangerous indeed," he said, listing increased response time, safety of children in schools and emergency medical calls where time is critical.

Asked why he would be against hiring new firemen, Izzo said: "I would not hire 12 new firefighters, which would be required to man the four shifts on the outlying stations. The hiring of these 12 new firefighters would initially cost the taxpayers $1.2 million. In addition, with the present union contract containing mandatory overtime minimum manpower clause costs would soon soar far above this amount."

There also is a difference of opinion over whether the number of new hires would need to be 12 as stated by Izzo's calculations or eight as mentioned by others.

During the debate in the past several months over whether to close the fire station, defenders of the move, such as Fire Chief Richard S. Gough and First Selectwoman Diane Goss Farrell, said eight more firemen would be needed if Green's Farms remained open.

OSHA Factor

And, one of the reasons cited by Gough for needing more hires is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

However, Izzo claims OSHA is making a recommendation and not an inflexible regulation.

"For those of you who do not know, OSHA recommends a minimum of three firefighters per vehicle," said Izzo. "At present we have four shifts which consist of an assistant chief, a lieutenant and 11 firefighters on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"There are seven on duty at headquarters and two men on duty at Saugatuck, Coleytown and Greens Farms. To put three firefighters on each vehicle at headquarters, which we already have, and all outlying stations, would actually take 12 firefighters because there are four shifts."

Meanwhile, Gough, in a Wednesday visit to Farrell's weekly Brown Bag Lunch, answered questions about the decision to close the firehouse and said it was made in order to increase the number of firefighters per fire engine from two to three at the Saugatuck and Coleytown fire stations.

The chief also pointed out that the central fire headquarters already has three firefighters on its engines.

During the luncheon session, Gough stated he had requested eight additional firefighters with two for each of the four shifts bringing the total to $440,000 in his original budget proposal but noted that was rejected.

Besides the lack of agreement on the staffing needed, Izzo said: "If our fire department was on the same eight hour work schedule of our other emergency services police and EMS we would in effect pick up 13 new firefighters because the two daytime shifts of 10 hours with one day off, and two nighttime shifts of 14 hours with three days off, is very inefficient and requires four shifts instead of three shifts.

"I would therefore suggest we open negotiations on this point as soon as we can because 13 firefighters per shift would offer a very considerable manpower savings if one shift were eliminated and the 13 firefighters could then be deployed on the remaining three shifts."

The selectman also noted that because an assistant chief and his driver are always on duty with every shift and must respond to any call, the "outlying stations have a four man response team minimum anyway."

During the budget process which is just winding down, many Westporters at public meetings complained that the Westport Fire Department is ranked one or two in the state on a per capita basis in Connecticut.

"There are limits to what our community can afford," said Izzo. "Everyone is concerned and believes in public safety, but there comes a time when we all have to consider what our options are and what we should do to protect the fiscal integrity of our town."