By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
January 3, 2008
STAMFORD - The Belltown Fire Department began a new era yesterday as a strictly volunteer department after refusing to cede control of its paid firefighters to Stamford Fire & Rescue.
Eight of Belltown's nine paid firefighters reported for duty at Stamford Fire & Rescue headquarters yesterday morning, seven months after Mayor Dannel Malloy proposed merging the Belltown, Glenbrook and Turn of River volunteer departments with the paid downtown departments to have more staffing flexibility and reduce overtime costs. The ninth Belltown firefighter retired.
"As far as I know, it's a permanent situation," Belltown Fire Chief John Didelot said.
The city decided to pull the paid firefighters from the Dorlen Road station last month after Belltown's management agreement with the city expired.
The 34 paid firefighters assigned to Belltown, Glenbrook and Turn of River voted for a new labor contract that makes them employees of Stamford Fire & Rescue.
They were city employees assigned to the volunteer houses and represented by the same union as Stamford Fire & Rescue but were under a separate labor contract.
Yesterday, Stamford Fire & Rescue moved an engine into the Glenbrook firehouse on Arthur Place, bringing the total paid staff there to 16, up from nine.
"They are up and running with four-man staffing, 24-seven, up from one or two," said Stamford Fire & Rescue Chief Robert McGrath, who now commands the entire Glenbrook staff.
Stamford Fire & Rescue wanted to put paid firefighters in Belltown, too, but McGrath said the department's board of directors wouldn't allow the paid firefighters or apparatus in the building.
"They chose to operate as a volunteer fire company," he said.
Didelot said his department offered an alternative plan, but the city was not willing to negotiate.
Until yesterday, the paid firefighters working in Belltown and Glenbrook reported to the volunteer chiefs in those districts. Stamford's volunteer firehouses are autonomous under the city Charter but rely on city funding and employees to operate.
Volunteer firefighters still report to the volunteer chiefs in their districts.
The new arrangement is modeled after the Springdale Fire Co., which has been staffed by Stamford Fire & Rescue employees since 1997.
The 16 paid firefighters who work in Springdale report to McGrath and volunteers report to Springdale Chief Shawn Fahan.
The reshuffling will allow for a more efficient use of manpower, saving more than $500,000 a year in salary and overtime costs, city administrators said.
Malloy targeted the volunteer departments for cost savings after elected officials cut the public safety budget last spring.
Director of Public Safety, Health and Welfare William Callion said calls in Belltown now are handled by the closest paid firefighters working out of the Springdale, Glenbrook, Turn of River and Stamford Fire & Rescue firehouses.
Response times will not suffer, he said. He could not predict how long it will take paid firefighters to arrive because it will depend where in the district the emergency occurs, Callion said. "As far as I am concerned, we are covering it very well," he said.
Didelot said he's worried the wrong firehouse might be dispatched initially.
"The only thing I'm concerned about is that they enter the right stuff into the 911 system so that the right units respond," he said.
McGrath said three fire captains spent the last week re-entering data into the computerized dispatch system to reflect the changes.
There were no problems with the two calls Belltown responded to yesterday, but Didelot said time will tell whether there are bugs to be worked out.
Police Capt. Gregory Tomlin, who oversees the 911 center, did not return a phone call yesterday.
Didelot said that, as long as there are no computer glitches, the only noticeable difference should be that an additional truck will respond to Belltown calls in case volunteers don't show up.
In the past, two fire companies typically responded to calls - Belltown and the nearest department - for a total of four to 10 paid firefighters on every scene, Didelot said.
Now a typical response for all non-medical calls will require 14 firefighters - two engines, a ladder truck, as well as a deputy chief or assistant chief, McGrath said.
City officials have said paid firefighters are more reliable. They have long criticized volunteer firehouses' declining membership, spiraling overtime costs, lapsed training records and poor response to emergency calls.
Exact numbers of volunteers, and certification and training records from volunteer departments have been hard to pin down, city officials have said.
Belltown has 20 active volunteers, Didelot said.
Volunteers at the firehouse waiting to respond to calls yesterday morning said sending 14 paid firefighters on every call is a waste of taxpayers' money.
"They are counting on us failing. It ain't going to happen," said Tom Alessi, a Belltown volunteer of 32 years. "Even when there were paid guys here, we had two or three guys hanging around."
Volunteers said taxpayers will feel the pinch.
"It's going to incur more expenses," said Alan Shaw, a Belltown volunteer for 11 years.
According to the city's Office of Policy and Management, the merger costs taxpayers in the CS tax district an additional 50 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property value - $250 a year on a home assessed at $500,000.
Callion said there will not be a noticeable increase in taxes next year because the increased cost was built into this year's tax rates.
Alessi said he continued volunteering in Belltown after he moved to Darien six years ago because he's trying to keep taxes down for his parents, who live in the district.
The fire union approved the merger because most of the paid firefighters do not live in Stamford and a fully paid system ensures job security, he said.
"Most of the people employed live out of town, so what do they have to lose if taxes go up?" Alessi asked.
Callion said sending 14 men on a call is "standard protocol all over the world." Waiting to send units could cost lives, he said.
When four new hires enter the fire academy in February, there will be 278 paid firefighters in Stamford, including the 17 at Turn of River - down from 285 positions in this year's budget, McGrath said.
Whether the number of Stamford Fire & Rescue firefighters changes will depend on the results of a study the city plans to do later this year, he said.
The city selected a firm but has not yet signed a contract, Callion said.
The results of the study likely won't be ready until after next year's budget is set is May, but officials might have preliminary information that will help them make spending decisions, Callion said.
Callion said he's confident the staffing changes will reduce the $700,000 Belltown, Glenbrook and Turn of River spent on overtime last year.
"We've got six months to prove that, don't we?" he said.
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