A dispute between the Southport Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD) and the town dates back to the end of last year when the career fire department requested updated records showing all active firefighters had the required training and certification to respond to emergency calls. The Southport volunteer department said it turned over the records, but the town disputed the claim, leading to the Fire Commission's recent decision to bar volunteer Squad 14 from being dispatched.

The lawsuit was filed Oct. 17 in Superior Court in Bridgeport by the SVFD's attorney, Roberto T. Lucheme. When reached at his Glastonbury office Tuesday afternoon, Lucheme said the SVFD agrees that the certifications should be met, but added his contention that the department should not be put out of service in the meantime.

"The use of these 'standards' as an excuse to stop dispatching us is just a cover- up," Lucheme said in a statement to the media. "In fact, we have 911 recordings, available to any member of the public through the Freedom of Information Act, showing that the career fire chief has been interfering with our dispatch for quite a while."

Fairfield Fire Chief Richard Felner could not be reached by press time. But Town Attorney Richard Saxl said the decision not to dispatch SVFD's Squad 14 to emergency calls is a matter of public safety.

Saxl said all certification and training must be met so that Fairfield's citizens dialing 911 know firefighters who respond are equipped to do the job. He said the training is also in the best interests of the volunteers for their own safety. If any thing goes wrong on a call, Saxl said the town could be liable not only to property owners but for worker's compensation if a volunteer firefighter was injured.

"I'm really disappointed that they resorted to litigation," Saxl said. "We have been working with them to get their paperwork for years."

Dispatching dispute

In the lawsuit, Lucheme included transcripts of two 911 calls the SVFD obtained from the Emergency Call Center under the Freedom of Information Act to show alleged actions by the town to freeze Squad 14 out of calls.

One call was for a medical emergency on Rennel Drive on Aug. 17. Lucheme said a dispatcher ignored a posted memo saying SVFD could continue to respond to emergency medical calls, adding Southport volunteer firefighters who responded anyway were accused of "jumping a call" when firefighters from Fairfield Fire Engine 4 also arrived on the scene, because Felner did not inform his fire platoon captains about the memo.

Saxl said the SVFD was not dispatched because dispatchers did not believe someone with emergency medical service training was on the truck, adding that SVFD President David Becker later told him someone with EMS training actually was on the volunteer squad truck.

In the lawsuit, Lucheme used Google Maps to show it would take about three minutes to get to the Rennel Drive address from the Reef Road firehouse as compared to 49 seconds from the SVFD's Main Street headquarters.

On the other call, Felner can be heard on the tape asking telecommunicator Elizabeth Rodriguez to send Rescue 15 to the Carolton Convalescent Home on Aug. 27. When Rodriguez told Felner Squad 14 - the Southport volunteer squad - was in service, he said on the tape, "Yeah, just, stay out of it. Ignore it. That's what I'm doing. You know what I'm saying?"

Rodriguez said she would dispatch Rescue 15 by telephone, so that the call would not go out over the radio, but Felner said the call could be sent out over the radio, before changing his mind. "You know what? You're right," Felner said. "Call them on the phone."

"Just thinking of you," Rodriguez said.

Lucheme used Google Maps to show it takes about 10 minutes from someone to drive from 400 Jackman Ave., where Rescue 15 was coming from, to 400 Mill Plain Road, as compared to two minutes for someone coming from the SVFD.

Lucheme said the town is required under state statutes to dispatch the closest fire department to a call. "The risk to the public for failure to dispatch is real and immediate in terms of the potential for lost lives, bodily injuries and property damage," Lucheme said in the lawsuit.

Both sides also disagree on the extent the town has helped SVFD firefighters work to meet requirements, but vowed to work together despite the legal action.