Conclusion

Inadequate staffing to meet the demands of our community is the shared factor among all the analyzed components that pertain to our problem statement. We need to bring in more career staff to address our rising call volume, compensate for the decline in volunteer numbers, keep up with the fast expansion of our community, and ensure a fair response time across all areas of Town.

Currently, Fire Headquarters is the only station that possesses full-time staff members, while the remaining stations depend on volunteer on-call personnel. Consistent with the national trend, the reliability of Branford's volunteer response has diminished. Calls directed to Companies 2, 4, 5, and 9 frequently go unanswered, resulting in unacceptable delays in reaching incidents beyond the expected four-minute response time from Fire Headquarters. Additionally, the existence of vacant stations in the districts may foster a misleading perception of security within the neighborhoods they are meant to serve.

The Board of Fire Commissioners and the Fire Chief recommend Staffing Option 1, supporting the creation of an EMS division. By

hiring 16 career EMTs, we can finally establish a much-needed second career engine company. This can be achieved by reallocating firefighter/paramedics from ambulances to fire trucks. Although no additional firefighters are initially being added in the first phase of this plan, assigning EMTs to ambulances enhances the effectiveness of our existing firefighting resources by adjusting their roles. Consequently, more firefighters will be present in the town for longer periods. Furthermore, this change enables the formation of a three-person engine company, which aligns with our current staffing levels for an engine and significantly improves safety and efficiency compared to a two-person engine company.

Our current schedule consists of four distinct shifts, each adhering to a 24/72 hour work schedule, resulting in an average of 42 working hours per week. By incorporating four new EMTs into each shift, the daily staffing would increase to 14 members (10 FF/paramedics and 4 EMTs). Station 9 in Indian Neck is designated as the location for the additional engine company.

To enhance overall effectiveness and reliability, we plan to consolidate the existing four volunteer companies into two. Company 4 in Short Beach would be permanently closed, and its remaining members, along with the Indian Neck Company 9, would be reassigned. The reassignments would be made to either M.P. Rice Company 2 or Stony Creek Company 5. Currently, the volunteer companies have been operating in a similar manner, with some success in ensuring that at least one of the four volunteer engines is available for deployment.

the agreement, each Department provides the equivalent of a four-person engine company to the Town in need to help ensure proper staffing at the fire scene. The downside for Branford is that we lose our only staffed engine company when called to assist, leaving only our cross-staffed ambulance crews or the volunteers to cover the Town. Similarly, when a “working fire” is declared, both Branford and Guilford provide additional personnel to each other to act as the required Rapid Intervention Team (RIT), by request, under a mutual aid agreement. Because East Haven and Guilford also have a decline of

In 2022, we entered into an automatic aid agreement with The Town of East Haven. This allows for an immediate joint response to reported building fires, but only on the west side of Town. Under

volunteers in their communities, crews assigned to RIT are most often reassigned to supplement extinguishment operations, which undermines the intention of having a trained team ready for firefighter emergencies. Consequently, additional mutual aid from towns further away are often required to fulfill this essential role. A second engine company will allow us to continue to protect Branford while we are fulfilling our obligation to East Haven or Guilford under our automatic and mutual aid agreements.

The proposed addition of a second paid Engine Company still falls short in adequately providing coverage for a town of our size, given our population, density, and call volume. Our Town has been experiencing substantial growth and development, resulting in an increase in densely populated areas. Furthermore, we have emerged as a health care hub,

with nursing homes, assisted living facilities, doctors' offices, clinics, and surgical centers relying heavily on our emergency medical services. Considering the proposed 500,000 square foot development and other projects planned for the east side of Town, it is imperative to establish and execute a plan for a fire station in that area, which has been long overdue. We have identified a suitable piece of Town-owned land at 32 Acorn Rd, which possesses sufficient size and a strategic location, enabling a four-minute response time to a significant portion of the east side of Town. Additionally, it offers convenient access to various other areas in Town through Route 1, Interstate 95, and Featherbed Lane. It is crucial to promptly construct a fire station on this site and equip it with a third career engine company. Subsequently, an ambulance from headquarters would be relocated to this station, ensuring a fairer distribution of response capabilities. With all three stations staffed, we would be able to achieve our goal of a four-minute response time to approximately 90% of the Town.

Finally, the implementation of Staffing Option 1 makes the most fiscal sense while still fulfilling our mission. The formation of an EMS division allows us to hire EMT’s at a lower cost for medical duty only, making for a more efficient use of our existing firefighter/paramedics. As staffing costs are an increasing variable that compounds from one year to the next, the savings of an EMT only job classification adds up quickly. Over the course of 10 years, our preferred EMS division model saves the town over 10 million dollars.

Photo Credit : Doc Johnson