Southington decides to maintain current fire staff levels

The Southington Board of Fire Commissioners decided to maintain current staffing levels as opposed to reducing them.

The topic of low fire staffing in Southington was reignited after two firefighters sent out a mayday call last week. The firefighters ended up surviving the call without injury.

But, the fire department says had anything bad happened to the firefighters, they wouldn’t have had sufficient staff to provide backup.

"The lack of support of the town for the fire department is a disgrace,” said Nathan Coffman, of Southington, at the Board of Fire Commissioners meeting.

Dozens of people attended Thursday's meeting and spoke during public comment. Many said Southington’s seven-man shift is lower than the national recommendation.

"We reached our short-term goal today to maintain services, we still need to deliver 24/7 service to residents in Southington in the south end of town,” said Ed Crandall, of Southington Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 2033, the union.

He adds that one of the fire stations is unstaffed during the overnight hours.

Some at the meeting reflected on the terror of a mayday call without ample backup.

"It is gut wrenching, it is almost unbelievable,” a former Southington firefighter said.

Others shared personal stories of being rescued from a fire earlier in December.

"We were told we were blessed the fire started at the time of day where there were fire personnel available to fight the inside fire the outside the fire, the roof,” Mary Jo Palloto, of Southington, said.

Before hearing these comments, the fire commission emphasized their support for the department.

"The commission does not, has not, and will not support the reduction of staff in services,” Chair Edmund Costello said.

They told people at the meeting they are submitting a grant to the town council that would increase staffing.

“Three will be paid by the grant and one will be paid completely by the town. That is the recommendation we're going to send,” Costello said.

But many in town say there's still more to be done to increase staff levels, which many believe are unsustainable, noting mutual aid is needed for nearly every call.

"The chief shouldn’t have to find some sort of fund or something from the government to fund the department,” said one Southington resident, in reference to the grant the commission is recommending.

"I don’t pay taxes to the town of Cheshire, the city of Meriden, the city of Bristol. I pay taxes to Southington and I observe Southington firefighters, volunteers or career, to protect my property,” Sean Carney, a Southington resident and firefighter, said.

Southington’s fire union said they look forward to working with the town in the future to increase staffing.

We asked the fire commission if they wanted to do an interview, but they deferred to the comments made during the meeting.