More Study Need For Fire Closing

March 29, 2002

Editor's note: This is a copy of a letter sent to First Selectwoman Diane Goss Farrell.

I attended a public meeting at Greens Farms School Feb. 28, 2002, to learn more about the proposed closing of our fire station in Green's Farms. I attended this meeting with an open mind, but it became quickly apparent that there will be little in the way of improvement to Westport with this closure and that there will be a great deal more lost. I was disappointed and alarmed that this proposed closure is being actively considered and may be implemented in short order.

My primary concern is that we in Green's Farms, and all Westporters who will suffer under a redistribution of services from our fire station to the remaining fire stations in town, will endure considerable degradation of services from the closure of the Greens Farms fire station without any significant measurable benefits.

The effects of this closure, at a minimum, would appear to include (and this list is prepared from one meeting -- I am certain that further study would produce more):

1. No budget savings at all to the town and its taxpayers.

2. Increasing response times for fire-related emergencies, as admitted by the fire chief, in what appears to be a very unscientific study.

3. Increasing EMS and other response times in the 90 percent plus of calls which were not fire-related and which, in a medical emergency, could result in death or disability to the caller.

4. Increasing response times for a second fire engine to reach Green's Farms destinations (and other town areas where the Green's Farms engine would be used), with no review or study by the fire chief of how much increased time would occur.

5. Closing the second busiest fire station in town and shifting calls to other fire stations, without consideration of population density or distance.

6. Mothballing the relatively new fire engine at the Green's Farms station, which cannot be garaged in other fire stations.

7. Potentially increasing home insurance costs for all town residents as our "ISO" rating is decreased, with no firm knowledge of how much our rating will decrease.

What are the benefits? The stated benefit is to have three firemen on a fire engine responding to fire calls rather than two, so that the three can respond more effectively to the emergency at hand. Intuitively, this makes sense, although the fire chief stated this as a conclusion without any detailed reasoning or context behind this statement. In fact, since very few (less than 5 percent) of the 1000 plus calls made to Green's Farms Station in 2001 were fire-related (and I expect this proportion of fire to other calls is identical at the other town fire stations), this benefit is attenuated at best. And the fire chief did not provide any measurable benefits other than stating that three is better than two and that other towns have as many as four fireman on trucks compared to the two we have in Westport.

At a minimum, I would hope and expect our elected representatives to consult with outside neutral parties or to appoint a committee of the RTM to determine if this proposed closing is in our best interests as a town. We have consulted with outside parties and RTM committees in far less important contexts, principally because an unbiased and dispassionate view should be used to positively influence public policy. In this much more important case, I would hope that we could produce a more definitive, analytical and scientific cost/benefit analysis than has been produced so far.

I simply do not understand the logic of this proposal and its rushed circumstances, other than pure politics to force the taxpayers to add a third person for fire trucks at all fire stations. That is a separate and important question -- maybe, this proposal for a third fireman is in our best interests despite the increased cost, and, again, I would submit that this is best reviewed through a neutral committee or other expert review.

We need more information and more consideration of this proposal. Please do the right thing and keep our fire station open.

Lawrence J. Zlatkin, Westport