City looks into response to fire in N. Stamford

By Jeff Morganteen
Stamford Advocate Staff Writer
Posted: 11/18/2008 02:55:59 AM EST

City looks into response to fire in N. Stamford - Topix

STAMFORD - A fire that badly damaged a home on Mill Spring Lane in North Stamford last month has sparked more debate about the roles of paid and volunteer firehouses.

The Public Health and Safety Committee of the Board of Representatives at 6:30 p.m. Thursday will examine the response of city and volunteer fire departments to the Oct. 4 incident, in which an out-of-control chimney fire tore through a $2.4 million house and displaced a family.

City officials and the paid firefighters union have denounced what they called a questionable response by the Long Ridge volunteer fire department because, on 911 tapes, a Long Ridge driver requested back-up from the city, telling a dispatcher that only three firefighters were at the scene 12 minutes into the blaze.

The controversy over the Mill Spring Lane fire underscores the ongoing feud between the paid and volunteer departments, which for years have fought in courtrooms over control of fire districts.

More recently, the litigation includes battles over the installation of security cameras in a firehouse and a consolidation plan announced by the city last year.

City officials said a merger between paid and volunteer departments would improve service and save money. Volunteer chiefs said the paid firefighters union is pushing to increase its ranks by encroaching into volunteer districts.

"That debate has been going on for 10 years now," said city Rep. Richard Lyons II, D-1, chairman of the Public Health and Safety Committee. "We're not into what system is right or wrong, but it needs to work for the public. It's 2008 now, not 1953. Let's find out what happened with this Mill Spring Lane incident."

The committee invited Director of Public Safety William Callion, Stamford Fire & Rescue Chief Robert McGrath, chiefs of the Big Five volunteer departments, and officials from the Stamford police department and Stamford Emergency Medical Services.

McGrath said he has been asked to bring a roster of on-duty city firefighters and those who responded to Mill Spring Lane.

Lyons said the review will deal with whether the fire was preventable and whether manpower and equipment were adequate.

"If we can investigate why a piece of metal fell from Trump Parc, we can find out why a house burned to the ground in front of the homeowners," Lyons said, referring to debris that fell this summer from the downtown Trump Parc construction site.

City Rep. Joseph Coppola, D-15, a former chief at the volunteer Belltown Fire Department, said conversation at the Thursday meeting likely will turn toward the bigger issue of fire service in the city. Coppola is also on the committee.

"We'll go over it. We'll hear what the concerns are," Coppola said. "I'm sure some people will take the opportunity to bash the volunteers a little, but what are you going to do?"

Coppola said he does not think the meeting will resolve questions about the Mill Spring Lane fire.

"Look, the administration turned the fire service in Stamford into a mess, and what's going to come out of it?" Coppola asked. "What are they going to do? Are they going to ask how many people responded to the scene?"

- City officials and city and volunteer fire chiefs will review fire department response times to a controversial house fire on Mill Spring Lane at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on the fourth floor of the Stamford Government Center, 888 Washington Blvd.