Fire Dept. Counts on New Fire Station, Staff

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By Bill Slocum
Contributing Editor

In its recent budget presentation, the Greenwich Fire Department showed images from a recent house fire in Old Greenwich, where a three-person team responded quickly and was able to contain the damage (right). Photos courtesy of the Greenwich Fire Department
In its recent budget presentation, the Greenwich Fire Department showed images from a recent house fire in Old Greenwich, where a three-person team responded quickly and was able to contain the damage (right). Photos courtesy of the Greenwich Fire Department

In Greenwich’s 2016-17 budget, they appear as different line items, for $625,168 and $500,000 respectively. For Fire Chief Peter Siecienski, they are critical, linked steps in upgrading the responsiveness of his department.

The first figure adds four paid firefighters to the Byram Fire Station, and begins a four-year plan to staff up first responders. The second figure funds planning for a fire and ambulance station in northwestern Greenwich, a project expected to cost the town $6 million in the next two years.

“People will say they are two separate, distinct issues which are not connected,” Siecienski said. “I would say, why would you build a structure for $6 million without knowing how it is going to be staffed?”

At the Board of Estimate and Taxation’s Budget Committee hearings last week, First Selectman Peter Tesei presented the initiatives as overdue. The four-firefighter proposal is a pared-down, stretched-out version of an eight-firefighter plan rejected in each of the last two years by the BET.

“This initiative seeks to reduce the hazards associated with a two-person staffing model while improving the operational efficiency of firefighters who provide the initial response to incidents,” Tesei told the committee.

At the moment, three town stations, in Byram, Old Greenwich, and Cos Cob, have two-person first-response teams. Siecienski points to existing regulations prohibiting two firefighters from taking action at a house fire where no lives are in jeopardy.

“Standing outside, with flames coming out of the window, what would your expectation be?” he asked. “That they would fight the fire and try to minimize the damage. With a two-person crew, they might stretch a hoseline, but they wouldn’t go in.”

That’s because one of the two firefighters must remain outside, to supervise and call for backup in emergencies. With three or more firefighters on the scene, two firefighters can approach a burning building simultaneously, providing backup and an extra pair of eyes in case of sudden hazards.

Much more severe was the damage last year to a home in Byram, where a two-person team responded (left). Photos courtesy of the Greenwich Fire Department
Much more severe was the damage last year to a home in Byram, where a two-person team responded (left). Photos courtesy of the Greenwich Fire Department

Assistant Fire Chief Robert Kick noted an incident last winter in Old Greenwich, where a two-person team arrived at a situation where two boys had fallen through ice. While one of the firefighters stayed back holding a ropeline, the other firefighter went out for the boys alone. He was successful in rescuing them, but injured his back in the process. With a three-person team, firefighters performing the rescue would not have been as exposed.

“If you come to a fire scene, and somebody’s out there screaming ‘My child is in that building,’ I don’t know one firefighter who would stand outside and wait for backup,” Kick said. “As a town, we can’t put a person in that position.”

The challenge of getting the BET to approve a new fire station in northwest Greenwich is complicated by apparent septic issues that limit occupancy at the King Street site the town purchased for the station in 2004. The BET has also questioned the King Street site, as much of its immediate service radius extends into New York State.

Siecienski said the site offers coverage to local “target hazards” presently unserved by the town, like the Convent of the Sacred Heart school. “It provides us with some protection in northwest Greenwich,” he said.

Both Siecienski and Kick say they are optimistic this is the year both projects go through. They note the budget presented by Tesei came in under BET guidelines, and represents only a two-percent increase in spending. Also, there are new members on the BET, including a new chairman of the Budget Committee, Jim Lash. Lash was first selectman in 2004, when the town brought property for a northwest fire station.

“What Jim has done this year, which has been different from the two previous years, is making sure we have adequate time to make our presentation,” Siecienski said. “It’s our hope people will see the benefits of this townwide, not just the northwest corner. By equalizing service, everyone will have the same level of service.”

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