By Martin B. Cassidy
Staff Writer
August 16, 2005
In a major reorganization intended to clarify its chain of command, the town fire department will hire four new deputy chiefs to take primary authority commanding firefighters, the fire chief said.
The new commanders, to have the rank of deputy chief, would run firefighting operations on a daily basis and have authority over lieutenants, hopefully putting an end to situations in which two lieutenants show up and can't determine who is in charge, Chief Sanford "Sandy" Anderson said.
The additional command layer was recommended last year in a report by a three-chief panel which concluded that insufficient supervision and an ambiguous chain of command were factors in a December 2003 fire in which five firefighters were injured, three seriously.
"It's going to happen very soon," Anderson said. "They'll control firefighting operations and supervision 24 hours a day and the buck will stop with them."
The change was first proposed by former Fire Chief Daniel Warzoha last year, but postponed until the town found a successor for Warzoha, who retired in June, First Selectman Jim Lash said.
"These people will be the shift commanders in charge of everything that goes on," Lash said. "This should clarify who is in command at fire scenes."
The town has set aside $500,000 in its 2005-06 budget to hire the deputy chiefs, Lash said, but qualifications and salary information are still being negotiated for the unionized positions between the town's fire union and human resources officials, according to Mary Jo Iannuccilli, assistant director of the town's human resources department.
All applicants for the job must have at least five years as a career firefighter, Iannuccilli said.
In February 2004, the three chiefs from other Connecticut towns on the Davis Avenue Independent Fire Review Panel identified insufficient supervision and an ambiguous chain of command as problems in the Greenwich Fire Department.
Currently on each 24-hour shift, there are four career lieutenants of equal authority who can direct firefighting operations, according to fire officials. Normally, the first lieutenant to arrive on a fire scene takes command, unless a higher ranking officer, such as a deputy chief, intervenes.
The new deputy chiefs will be inserted in the chain of command above volunteer district chiefs who run volunteer companies, and below the current deputy chiefs that will now be called assistant chiefs, said Deputy Fire Chief Michael Puterbaugh, director of operations.
One deputy chief will work on each 24-hour shift, and respond to fire calls to direct the response of personnel, but also oversee a variety of other management tasks such as special projects and training exercises, Puterbaugh said.
"They'll provide line supervision and be the people in charge of the entire shift, making sure incidents are handled properly," Puterbaugh said. "This is a high ranking chief position with some pretty extensive responsibilities."
Lt. John Novak, president of the union, said that the addition of the chiefs would improve supervision and clarify who is in charge during emergencies.
Puterbaugh said next week, Anderson and other fire brass would be interviewing candidates to hire seven new firefighters, four of them to fill vacancies in the ranks expected to result from promoting firefighters into the new deputy chief positions. That will bring the total number of career personnel to 107.
"We want to get these people trained and on the job so, when we hire the chiefs, there won't be a huge gap before we replace the people who were promoted," Puterbaugh said. "It makes good sense."
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