Fire
Department
This
year’s Annual Fire Department report is dedicated to two long-standing members
of the Fire Department that retired this year: Captain David Dockstader and
Lieutenant John L. Kendall, Jr. Between
the two, they faithfully served the Town a total of 58 years.
Both David and John started as on-call firefighters, donating an enormous
amount of time assisting those in need. David
was appointed to as a Call Firefighter in 1974, a Full-time Firefighter in 1979,
and a Captain in 1986. Dave was
responsible for Department training, and was instrumental in, and responsible
for the members of the Department becoming certified to the Firefighter I/II
level. He was later in charge of
the Town’s Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) post 9-11, and ensured
that the Town received a full LEPC certification from the state. Dave is also a
founding member of the local Critical Incident Stress team. John joined the call
department in 1976, became Full-time Firefighter in 1986, and Lieutenant in
1996. He was also the Department’s Emergency Medical Services Director and
later Training Officer, as well as an Intermediate EMT.
Additionally, John has had a big hand in developing the Department’s
emergency vehicle specifications during the past 15 years.
John recently learned to play the bagpipes, and was a member of the
Boroughs Pipes & Drums. Both members were truly devoted to the Department,
and the town and would respond to emergencies all hours of the day and night, no
matter what they were doing, to assist residents in need. They will be missed
and hard to replace. Best to luck
to both in their retirement.
The
Southborough Fire Department responded to 1,141 emergency calls.
The number decreased by 72 calls from the previous year. Additionally,
the Department conducted 877 inspections, plan reviews and public education
programs.
Of the 1,141
emergencies that the Department responded to, 692 calls (60.7%) were medical
emergencies.
The following
is a breakdown of the emergency responses:
55 Fire incidents
7 Overpressure/Rupture incidents
692 Medical Emergency/Rescue/Extrication incidents
63 Spills/Leaks/Arcing Wires and other Hazardous Conditions
89 Service/Public Assist incidents
54 Good Intent/Unauthorized Burning incidents
179 Accidental/Alarm System Malfunction/False Alarm/CO
Detector
incidents
2 Citizen Complaint incidents
Voters at the
Annual Town Meeting in April approved Article 29 to replace the Department’s
very worn 1993 ambulance, using funds collected through the ambulance billing
($145,000 from Ambulance Receipts Reserve Fund 23). The bid for the new
ambulance was awarded to Greenwood Fire Apparatus of North Attleborough,
Massachusetts for a Ford/Horton ambulance.
The new ambulance is expected to be in service early in 2005.
I applied for
the second year in a row for a Federal Fire Act Grant in 2003 in the amount of
$85,259 to replace and upgrade the Department’s aging and problematic radio
system. I received word in early
2004 that the Town was denied this very competitive grant. For the 2004 Federal
Grant, I applied for a vehicle exhaust system to be installed in the stations.
Diesel exhaust is a known carcinogen and permeates all areas of the
stations when the vehicles are started. The
Department was cited in a 2002 State inspection report for the lack of adequate
exhaust removal. As of this
writing, we are still in the running for this grant.
The floor in
“Firefighter’s Memorial Hall”, the public meeting room at Fire
Headquarters was replaced in 2004. Workers courtesy of the Worcester County
Sheriff’s Office from the House of correction provided most of the labor,
along with the Town’s Building and Facilities Staff. This unique combination
of labor saved the Town considerable money in the floor replacement.
Once again,
the members of the Southborough Firefighters Association sponsored the annual
Children’s Halloween Party, as well as presented scholarships in the amount of
$500 each to Molly Moran and Dan Shine. Members
of the Department under the direction of Susan Chorey worked with the Salvation
Army of Framingham to collect toys for the less fortunate during the holiday
season. Thank you for your support.
Four, 42-hour work shifts
are required to cover the 168 hours in each week in order to provide both fire
and emergency medical services 24/7. A
minimum of two FF/EMT’s are assigned to Headquarters, and two
Firefighter/EMT’s are assigned to Station 2 per shift.
Due to contractual requirements, there are two shifts with five
personnel, and two shifts with four. This
staffing is still below the 2000 Fire and Police Staffing, Equipment and
Facilities Study recommendation of six per shift.
Full-time firefighters are augmented by an on-call staff.
The current staffing configuration allows us to adequately handle a
majority of the routine emergency calls; however, major incidents and multiple
calls occurring simultaneously place a serious strain on our response
capabilities and require the recall of all off duty and on-call personnel, as
well as the use of mutual aid. Any
reduction in staffing would greatly impact the services which we provide the
residents of Southborough.
The Department is comprised of the following
personnel:
·
1 Full-time Fire Chief
·
1 Administrative Secretary/Dispatcher (32 hours/week)
·
19 full-time Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s)
·
6 Call Firefighter/EMT’s
·
7 Call Firefighters
·
3 EMT’s
·
1 Safety Officer
·
1 Chaplain
It is important to note that 95% of the
Full-Time members, and 37% of the on-call members live outside of Southborough.
This results in longer response times for fire apparatus that requires
off-duty and call personnel to drive.
The following personnel changes occurred in
2004:
New Members:
·
FF/EMT-Paramedic Paul Pierce
·
FF/EMT-Paramedic David Cobb
·
FF/EMT-Paramedic Dana Amendola
Left the Department:
·
Captain/EMT David Dockstader (Retired)
·
FF/EMT-Paramedic Francis Mahoney
·
FF/EMT-Intermediate Nancy Mabardy
·
Lieutenant/EMT-Intermediate John L. Kendall (Retired)
(Captain
Joseph C. Mauro, Fire Prevention Officer)
A total of 877 inspections, plan reviews and public education programs
were conducted in 2004.
The following is a breakdown of inspections:
2004
211
26F Smoke detector (home resale)
inspections
27
26F Re-inspection
62
26B Smoke detector (new home)
inspections
9
26B Re-inspection
61
Oil
burner inspections
8 Oil burner
re-inspections
30
Propane
inspections
3
House
number re-inspections
36
School
inspections and fire drills
32
Annual town
license renewal inspections
59
Commercial
building inspections
23
Tank Truck inspections 527CMR 8.00
1
Pre-blast
survey
2
Blast Observations
7
Underground
Tank removal observation
7
Misc. safety inspections
(insurance,
etc.)
5
Complaints
Investigated
12
License Renewal Follow-up Inspections
15
Follow-up Inspections
The
following programs were presented to the public:
72
School Fire Prevention
programs
6
Misc. Fire and Safety Programs
19
Fire Station tours for groups
The
number of plans reviewed were as follows:
101
Residential Smoke Detector plans (new
Construction &
renovation)
38
Commercial plans (new construction,
fire
alarm, sprinkler, site plans, etc.)
10
Site Plans Reviewed
20
Construction Meetings/Inspections
FIRE
PREVENTION PROGRAMS PRESENTED:
·
The National Fire Protection
Association’s Learn Not to Burn
curriculum was once again presented to the kindergarten and first grade classes
at the Finn School. This program was presented in 4 separate modules throughout
the school year. The students were presented with information such as match and
lighter safety, stop-drop-roll, and crawling in smoke. The final module involved
bringing the department smoke trailer to the school and demonstrating the
effects of smoke in a burning house. The students were also given the
opportunity to have some fun by using a fire hose to extinguish a mock fire in a
prop constructed of plywood.
·
On
the Sunday of Heritage Day weekend, the Southborough Fire Department held an
open house sponsored by Papa Gino’s Pizza in Marlborough. Papa Gino’s
provided the pizza and the members of the fire department had an opportunity to
open the doors to the citizens of the town. Some of the activities included the
smoke house demonstration, thermal imaging camera demonstration, children’s
interactive games, and fire apparatus demonstrations. Three demonstrations were
presented to the public and included how to properly extinguish a grease fire on
the stove, a live smoke demonstration in the department smoke house and a
demonstration on the use of the jaws of life.
The open house was a success and was attended by approximately 400
residents. I would like to thank all the fire fighters and their families who
volunteered their time for making this a successful day.
·
Several fire safety presentations were
delivered throughout the year and included presentations to the faculty of the
New England Center for Children, Southborough Senior Citizens, residents of
Southborough Meadows, the cub scouts and various pre-schools. A 3-hour program
was once again successfully delivered to the students and faculty of St.
Mark’s School in September and involved awareness about dorm fire safety
practices. The program included an interactive demonstration of common fire
hazards and ways to prevent fire incidences from occurring.
PLAN REVIEWS,
INSPECTIONS, and FIRE INVESTIGATIONS:
·
This year there was a decline in the
inspection of new single-family residential houses.
However, the trend for the housing market shifted to the resale of
existing homes. This represented a
significant increase in inspections throughout the year.
During the year two over 55 residential projects neared completion.
The Carriage Hill project and the Admirals Glen project are nearly
complete with only a few units at each project requiring inspections.
Commercial projects remained consistent with new buildings being
completed at St. Mark’s School, New England Regional Primate Center, 132
Turnpike Rd and the new Woodward School among the major projects.
Several commercial renovation projects were also conducted and inspected
throughout the year.
·
Aside from inspections conducted for
the resale of new and existing homes and commercial buildings, several other
inspections are conducted during the year.
Inspections were conducted in all cargo tank trucks and transfer tank
trucks that carry combustible liquids. These
vehicles are required to be inspected and permitted by the fire department on a
biannual basis. Other inspections
include annual license renewal for business requiring a license through the
town, flammable liquid storage such as oil burners and propane storage,
underground tank removals and school inspections.
·
A new program was initiated this year
that trained certain members of the department to conducted inspections and
in-service and pre-plan inspections of all commercial buildings in Southborough.
The fire departments incident pre-plans have not been reviewed or updated
in nearly 15 years. This program
requires a considerable amount of time to review information on the buildings
and conduct survey’s to collect information on such things as the type of
building construction, fire alarm and sprinkler systems, types of fuel storage
and any other pertinent information required when responding to an emergency
incident. As part of this program, a grant was applied for through the
Department of Homeland Security to purchase computers and related equipment to
be placed on two of the primary response fire apparatus, the chief’s car and
fire prevention car. The
information will be used in conjunction with the Town’s G.I.S. system.
Once again
the incidence of major fires in the community was very low with a few fires
occurring that caused minimal damage. A large fire was averted in a
non-sprinkled commercial building located at 155 Boston Road. A malfunction in a
bathroom-ceiling fan caused a fire to start in the wood ceiling and roof
rafters. An alert occupant of the building noticed the fire and the rapid
initial response by the on duty personnel extinguished the fire before causing
considerable damage. If this fire
occurred after work hours it would have resulted in a significant loss because
the building only had a fire alarm system that alerted the occupants but did not
call into the fire department. Fortunately,
there were no other major fire events during the year.
(FF
Kenneth Strong, EMS Coordinator)
Throughout
2004 Dr. Taryn Kennedy, Director of Emergency Services at Marlborough Hospital,
provided oversight and support to the Department. Within her role as Medical
Director to the department she presents quarterly Morbidity or Mortality rounds
for the EMT’s, and the Doctor is actively involved in training and Quality
Assurance/Quality Improvement.
The
Departments two ambulances are fully equipped with cardiac monitors that have 12
lead ECG capability. This allows the Paramedics to confirm an acute myocardial
infarction and notify the receiving hospital. The ambulances are equipped with
30 Advanced Life Support (ALS) medications that the Paramedics can administer.
Each ambulance is equipped with Epi-pen auto injectors used by EMT’s for acute
allergic reactions/anaphylactic reactions. Semi-Automatic defibrillators are
carried on all front line fire apparatus.
Currently the
Department has 8 Paramedics, 10 EMT-intermediates, and 11 Basic level EMT’s.
Two members are currently attending Paramedic school and we look forward to
their completion.
(Lt.
Christian P. Dano)
The Southborough Fire Department also
developed an in-service training schedule for all full-time personnel.
This training is conducted once a week while firefighters are on duty and
covers all aspects of fire and emergency medical services (EMS) skill and
equipment use.
(Lt.
Victor G. Robidoux)
Please visit our web site for continuous
updated department information: www.southboroughfire.org.
Respectfully Submitted,
John D. Mauro, Jr.,
Fire Chief