By Gene Bifano
I’d like to add to the article that ran in The Valley Reporter – “Will fewer fire trucks make The Valley safer?" I was invited to present this to the Mad River Valley Planning District after it was learned I presented a Valleywide consolidatation plan to The Valley’s fire departments at an interdepartment meeting I chaired.
The proposal I made is not to disparage the volunteer firefighters in The Valley. I have the utmost respect for them and am friends with most. They invest a good deal of their personal time and are willing to suffer injury or worse to help you and your family.
My proposal is a way to help them help us. Fire, police and EMS services should not be a function of where one lives or confined to arbitrary boundaries drawn up 100-plus years ago.
My proposal is not unlike the Mad River Valley Planning District or the Valley Recreation District. It is a way of combining resources in a positive way to get the most and best you can for the best cost.
Lawrence, Massachusetts, population of 77,000 is about the size of Warren-Waitsfield and has about one fire a week, serving three major roadways with only nine fire trucks. They also do all the rescue work. Burlington has eight trucks; Barre City and Montpelier have four trucks apiece.
We have 17 fire trucks providing protection for 8,000 to 25,000 (ski season) with about two to three structure fires a year in an area that is somewhat larger then Lawrence.
The Valley is both suburban and rural which is an interesting dynamic when it comes to firefighting and apparatus.
MRVAS is a great example of consolidated resources. It provides EMS and rescue service to the entire Valley. If each Valley fire department were to replicate MRVAS' equipment, the cost to taxpayers of that town would be enormous for the one or two events that may occur in each town annually.
The most important issue for fire, police or EMS in stopping or mitigating a situation is getting the right resources to the situation to achieve a positive outcome. A practical time is less than 10 minutes.
If there is a structure fire in any Valley town all the departments show up. If there is a brush fie they all show up. If there is a car fire and one department doesn't have enough people another department shows up. In essence they work as if they’re one department today. However, in these secondary responses there are time delays.
The departments rarely train together. They have different levels of training, different officer structures, different methods and techniques of fighting fires, different and in some cases incompatible equipment (type of hose connection, air packs).
As to fire apparatus, there are 17 plus 1 (MRVAS Rescue) in The Valley to handle maybe two to four structure fires, a few car fires and the more than occasional chimney and brush fire.
Of the fire trucks in The Valley some are not fully
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) compliant. Some have exceeded their useful life. Moretown is buying a used fire engine which has only six years of useful life left.
Only one truck is all/four-wheel drive; it's old and tired.
Only one town has a ladder truck which is essential at every structure/chimney fire.
So what are the benefits of a Valleywide department?
Money Side:
- Each town gets better equipment.
- Buying power – things will cost less, buying better equipment for less.
- Reduced duplication and better allocation of equipment.
More opportunity for government grants. - Better financing.
Operation side:
- Better response of equipment and firefighters – the biggest and safest advantage.
- Interoperable equipment.
- Integrated education.
- Integrated officer staff – any officer can lead in any battalion.
- Any trained firefighter can respond with any department equipment in any station.
- Special operations and equipment.
- Same radio channel. Currently Waitsfield and Moretown have one dispatch and common channel, Warren has their own channel and dispatch, MRVAS has its own channel and dispatch, all for one small valley.
What would a consolidated department look like?
- Each town would continue to use their town fire station(s) and firefighters. You cannot have a Valleywide volunteer fire department system without each town having its fire stations and firefigthers.
- Always an adequate first response with firefighters and equipment.
- No disturbance of town fire unit cohesiveness and camaraderie.
- 12 or less fire apparatus.
Minimum of one ladder truck, two is ideal, both being combination ladder truck and pumper. - At least three all/4WD drive engines. Almost everyone in The Valley has a 4WD vehicle; why not fire trucks?
- Use of current firefighting technologies not being used today that provides 10 times the effectiveness of a current fire engine. In other words, an engine carrying 500 gallons of water would be equivalent to 5,000 gallons of water or five trucks carrying 1,000 gallons. Considering our water supply, this is essential.
- It could have a fire commission that would have one select board representative and one elected represented from each town and with the select board heads rotating the chair seat annually. Term and term limits TBD.
- Does anyone really care if a Waitsfield fire truck comes to a house fire in Moretown to save a family member, cat or dog?
Does anyone care if a Barre Town paramedic shows up to help someone in Fayston having a heart attack and not MRVAS?
The answer is no, or should be no. In fact, most people don't even pay attention or care as to what insignia or name of the department is as long as they are being helped.
Gene Bifano is Warren’s first constable and a former Warren volunteer firefighter.
