Blaze Illuminates Groton City's Need To Beef Up Firefighting Force
Low turnout sometimes delays efforts at scene

By Julie Wernau
Published on 11/22/2006 TheDay.com

Groton — The three Groton City firefighters who arrived at a Latham Street fire Monday lacked the numbers to immediately attack the blaze, said Daniel D. Tompkins, president of the Groton firefighters union.

Thankfully, members of Electric Boat's fire department turned up shortly thereafter, and two volunteers arrived shortly after that to help put out the fire.

The National Fire Prevention Association recommends that 17 firefighters be on scene to put out a standard, one-room fire.

“Today, thank God, no one was in that structure. But another time, you're just playing Russian roulette,” Tompkins said.

The city's contract with the firefighters' union expired June 30, and since then the negotiation of a new one, bogged down over staffing issues, has been referred to the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration.

Tompkins said the department is asking the city to add one full-time paid firefighter to the staff and to adopt minimum staffing requirements, at a cost of approximately $50,000. Under the proposal, staff would increase from three to four firefighters — in line with federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations.

The fire department is a combination of paid and volunteer firefighters, and Tompkins said the department has managed to stay afloat with volunteers in the past. But as regulations become more stringent, the ranks of volunteer firefighters have plummetted nationwide. A study of the department's 2005 emergencies found that no volunteers responded to 44 percent of the department's fire, EMS and other calls.

“Today's was pretty straightforward,” Tompkins said of Monday's fire in an unoccupied house. “You throw in people trapped and things like that, and you're just completely overwhelmed.”

Departments in New London have 16 firefighters per shift, while those in Norwich have 12 per shift.

“It's a very difficult situation that they're in,” Norwich Fire Chief Kenneth Scandariato said of the Groton City department. “Three people responding in total is not a response.”

Tompkins said the city has told firefighters to wait to start battling a fire until a fourth firefighter arrives from a nearby company, so long as no one is trapped in the building. But he said that even if someone were trapped, three men would not be enough.

Inside a burning structure, the visibility can be almost zero, Scandariato said, and to drag an unconscious adult out of a building can require two or three firefighters.

According to OSHA, “In the initial stages of an incident, where only one crew is operating in the hazardous area at a working structural fire, a minimum of four individuals shall be required, consisting of two individuals working as a crew in the hazard area and two individuals present outside this hazard area available for assistance or rescue at emergency operations where entry into the danger area is required.”

“They're saying that you need four people on an engine, and we're begging for four people in the entire city to respond,” Tompkins said. “The public doesn't know that they're at this risk, and they need to know.”

A firefighter at the Electric Boat fire department, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said the city relies on Electric Boat and the sub base fire departments to aid the city department. He estimated that Electric Boat's firefighters are able to get to a city fire in approximately two or three minutes.

“What if we're busy?” he asked. “Who comes?”

The Poquonnock Bridge Fire Department is often called upon to help out at fires in Groton City's jurisdiction, and can get to them in about five minutes, Tompkins said.

“There's been times when we stood there and waited,” he said.

Tompkins said a fire doubles in size each minute, which can make five minutes seem like a lifetime.

He said the labor board will visit the city next month, and that the department plans to argue for an additional firefighter.

Groton City Mayor Dennis Popp said Tuesday he will not negotiate contract issues in the newspaper and could not comment on the matter until the arbitration is concluded.