02/09/2021
How are our volunteer first responders being set up to succeed? The Wallingford Fire Department is a combination career/volunteer department, administrated by a paid Fire Chief and two paid Deputy Fire Chiefs.
If you’ve been following the information posted here, you’ll have seen that in 2014, upon a change in leadership, the current fire administration cancelled a program which provided stable volunteer membership for more than a decade. Since cancelling the program, volunteer membership has steadily faded. After cancelling the recruitment and training program, the current fire administration:
• Closed one of three volunteer stations, which at the time of closing was performing at levels commensurate with other volunteer stations in town.
• Cancelled fire department award/appreciation events held by the town and civic organizations.
• Cancelled a program wherein certified volunteers from other communities served in Wallingford for free.
• Created policy which requires anyone wanting to volunteer to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket before they can even apply for membership.
• Created policy which requires current volunteers to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket to obtain a basic firefighting certification.
• Rejected several proposals by volunteers to help address membership and improve operations.
• Now requires volunteers to perform basic skills, monthly, in front of administration delegates to demonstrate competency. In the past they had been trained and evaluated by certified volunteer Fire Service Instructors (no issues had arisen to cause this action and the new evaluations have shown no issues in the skills, knowledge, or abilities of our volunteers).
• The administration has announced it plans to eliminate all current volunteer leaders in order to appoint their own.
• The administration has announced it will eliminate any volunteer member who cannot achieve at least 20% of their station’s calls every quarter, regardless of ongoing contributions to the department or service to the town.
In a recent interview, a fire administration member stated that our volunteers were doing a good job and were protecting the community (the Citizen Mike Show).
With our volunteers pleading for assistance every year, why eliminate any of them if they are maintaining their training, certifications, want to volunteer to serve their community and are doing a good job? How does any of this help recruit and train new members or bolster the morale of the first responders we have?
Since 2014, our volunteers have consistently asked for recruitment, training, and certification to return, estimating that the cancelled program cost approximately $30,000 per year, bringing 12 to 20 new members annually. The administration has stated it would now cost approximately $50,000.
For reference, the 2021 fire administration budget was $8,772,568.00. Due to what I believe are failing new programs and mismanagement by the administration, the current budget was recently projected to be more than $650,000.00 short, and administrators are continuously going before the Town Council for more funds and transfers.
What is the potential impact to services, safety, the future budget, and our taxes if meaningful support for our fire department first responders isn’t shown soon?
