ATHOL— Joseph Guarnera has been on the job as Athol’s fire chief for about five months. In that time, he has reached some definite opinions regarding the department’s strengths and shortcomings.
“When I first got here,” Guarnera told the Athol Daily News recently, “my major concern was doing a needs analysis; just looking at the overall picture of the department, the members, how it’s run, what the facilities look like. Once I knew what my instructions were going to be then I had to make a plan. During the interviews I spoke with the town manager and the finance committee and the selectmen, and I got my marching orders. Then I knew what I needed to do.”
“The greatest need I found, right off the bat,” said the chief, “is staffing. We’re very, very badly short-staffed. We’re down at least one person per shift, and a full-time fire prevention officer.”
“The call volume from last year to this year,” he explained, “has gone up 16 percent, and over the past four years it’s gone up 19 percent. Yet, the staffing is the same. And that’s really putting a strain on the members, both physically and mentally. I do understand the financial situation the town, I really do. But, in order to give the town the protection and the response that it needs – and it deserves – the manpower really limits that.”
Guarnera said the increase in calls can be directly attributed to an increase in the number of motor vehicle accidents on area roads. He also noted fires in area communities also place extra demands on his staff.
“In my first two months here,” he said, “we had multiple fires; not only here in town, but in Orange and Erving and, you know, we’re the first responders to a lot of local communities. And with the members that are here, and the amount of overtime – forced overtime – and the increase in call volume, the number of members on the force has stayed the same. That’s a problem.”
Guarnero said while he will be applying for grant monies, including a SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant, such funding sources can’t be counted on to provide the funding necessary to meet staffing needs.
He also noted that, while Athol has seen an increase in economic development in recent years, the resulting increase in property tax revenues likely won’t solve his staffing problems, either; at least not in the near future.
“I will tell you that everybody that I’ve spoken to – meaning the town manager, the board of selectmen, the finance committee – they’re all very much aware of our needs,” said Guarnero, “because I’ve made them aware of where we stand. I know that it’s on their minds, but at the same time, I don’t know that that’s a fix that’s going to happen now, or next year, or even the year after.”
“I do know we have a phenomenal – phenomenal – group of firefighters,” he was quick to add. “I’ve seen them do fire work that I did in a very busy department, such as Revere, with a third of the manpower that I had.”
“For what the town paid last year in overtime,” said Guarnero, “plus a little bit more, the town could fund four, if not five, full time firefighters.”
In addition to manpower, the chief said he could use more up-to-date equipment. Guarnero said the National Fire Protection Association recommends that most fire trucks ideally be taken out of service after a decade on the job – 15 years at most.
“The newest piece of apparatus is seven years old, and that’s okay,” he said. “The second apparatus is 21 years old. The apparatus after that is 43 years old; that’s the third-line pumper. The ladder is 13 years old. And we’re putting incredible amounts of money into keeping these pieces of equipment serviceable.”
When asked if the town could face substantial liability if a problem arose with one of the older pieces of equipment during the course of fighting a fire and a firefighter was injured or a resident perished, Guarnero replied, “You’re absolutely correct.”
“We have an inadequate number of firefighters doing outstanding work with inadequate equipment,” Guarnero concluded. “We’re at such a minimal staffing that to give the public what they deserve, we’re doing it, but on a shoestring. And it’s not safe for the firefighters and it’s not safe for the public.”
Guareno was quick to add that he’s not being alarmist. He simply wants, he said, for town officials and the public to be aware of the situation at the fire department.
“In the end, it’s up to the town to decide when and how we address these problems.”