FARMINGTON – Fire Chief Terry Bell told selectmen that three new people from other area departments have been added to the per diem shifts, while two others have left. Next week four or five people will be interviewed for the part-time work.
The per diem shifts keep personnel at the station during the day every day of the week. The move was to ensure there would be responders available during the normal work day hours when it’s traditionally hard for fire fighters to leave their jobs to respond to a call.
Voters at annual town meeting in March approved adding one more per diem position to the Farmington Fire Rescue’s weekly roster, which brought the number to three, eight-hour positions on weekdays and two on weekends. An alternative, Bell noted at the time, was hiring full-time firefighters at a greater expense. The addition brought a 19.76 percent increase over the previous fiscal year to a department budget total of $380,055.
On Tuesday, Bell credited the additional per diem work for attracting more interest in serving on the department.
“We are getting some interested people signing up,” he said.
In other fire department news, the next meeting to discuss the area’s fire protections options is set for Wednesday Oct. 29. Several fire departments and town officials began brainstorming ideas for efficiency of fire protection services at a meeting last April.
It was recommended at the meeting for those interested in continuing the discussion to get together and draw up a list of their department’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for a self-reflective departmental analysis.
The Farmington department completed its analysis earlier in the summer. Among the 34 strengths fire fighters came up with were working together well, being well trained, up-to-date equipment and working well with mutual aid departments. At the top of the weaknesses list and seen at the center of concern has been the steady drop in numbers on the department’s roster. Another related weakness listed was “competing interests of our time – family, jobs and our free time.”
The opportunities list included regionalization of services, a county fire department, joint purchases and to “do away with town and county lines.” Under threats listed again was declining membership, aging membership and availability of membership.
For the Oct. 29 meeting, organizers expressed the hope that other participating departments will have completed their lists so the discussion can continue.
“We need to do something now or it will start costing the community much more,” Bell said earlier, adding it’s not only a question of finding ways to get more personnel to sign up so fire protection can be met with assurance, but it’s also the ever-increasing costs of equipment.
