To the Honorable Board
of Selectmen:
I am pleased to submit
the Easton Fire and Rescue Department Annual Report for the year 2000 for your
review.
Deputy Chief Norman
McNeill, Operations Chief, reports that there were a total of 3330 incidents
responded to by the department in 2000, for fire, emergency or other related
problems. This is an increase of 484 more runs than last year. There were
fires in 30 structures, 47 wildland and brushfires and 49 other types of
fires. There were 6,604 Fire and Rescue Department equipment responses in
2000. I am pleased to report that
in 2000 none of our citizens lost their lives, or were injured due to fire.
Estimated property loss for all 2000 incidents to which the fire
department responded amounted to $788,350.00, an increase in loss of
$636,425.00 from last year. There
were three fires that resulted in large property losses. A fire at the old
Motel 138 resulted in a $250,000.00 loss, and two separate fires at the Amcast
Foundry resulted in losses of $150,000.00 and $200,000.00 respectively. Two
(2) firefighters were injured in
the line of duty in 2000, down by eight from last year.
In
2000 the Easton Fire and Rescue Department continued to render to, and request
from surrounding towns and cities, mutual aid fire and ambulance assistance.
The department responded to 501 auto accidents. Fire personnel responded to 16
spills or fire incidents involving hazardous materials in Easton during the
year.
There were 1662
emergency medical responses by the Fire Department Ambulance in the past year,
an increase of 208 responses over last year.
These responses resulted in the transport of 930 persons to local
hospitals. The Easton Fire Department employs Advanced Life Support trained
personnel to a total of eight (8) Firefighter/Paramedics and seven (7)
Firefighter/Intermediate Emergency Medical Technicians. In addition we have 19
Firefighter/Basic Life Support EMTs.
All fire stations
remained open during the year.
Using our dispatch
software, Firefighter James Tully has generated a number of different reports,
providing us with some interesting statistics. For example, we have found that
in 2000, more calls for service occurred during weekdays than on weekends and
that the busiest day was Friday. More calls occurred between the hours of 8
a.m. and 6 p.m. than at any other time of the day, with 10 - 11 a.m. being the
busiest hour.
Another interesting
statistic derived from the new dispatch software was the response time of our
fire apparatus from the time of the call to arrival at the scene of the
emergency. The majority of calls were responded to between 2 and 7 minutes.
Most of the time the apparatus arrived on scene in 4 minutes.
Because of the amount of
medical emergencies and motor vehicle accidents in Town, the busiest piece of
apparatus in the Fire Department continues to be the Ambulance, followed by
the Fire engines at Station 2, Depot Street, and Station 3, Bay road
respectively.
The busiest Fire Station
in Town is the Depot Street Station, #2, due to its close proximity to
Washington Street (Rte 138), a North-South connector and Depot Street (rte
123), an East-West connector. The majority of Easton’s businesses and
multiple units housing rests in Station 2’s response district. Station 2
responded to 1291 calls in 2000, 214 more calls than Station 1, Lothrop
Street, and 513 more than Station 3, Bay Road.
Firefighter
Training and Education
Training and education
are vital in ensuring that the Easton Fire and Rescue Department is able to
respond effectively to the many and varied calls for assistance it receives.
The Easton Fire and Rescue Department provides comprehensive training in the
following areas: recruit (entry level), in-service skills development and
refresher training, special skills development (hazardous materials, arson
investigation, technical rescue, etc.), and officer supervisory skills and
command skills development. The
Training Officer, Captain James Walsh set up many required training programs
during the year, which provided members with individual skills development and
promoted team building. The results of this effective training program show up
on the emergency scene through smooth, safe and effective operations.
As
our Town grows and develops, the Department is called to deal with situations
that are becoming increasingly complex due to technological advances in our
society. The Department is finding that it is more and more difficult to
provide in-service training in the advanced technical fields, and that we must
send personnel to places such as the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy,
Barnstable Fire Academy and the National Fire Academy, in Emmitsburg, MD. As
Fire Chief, I am proud of the capabilities and accomplishments of this
department’s employees, and can assure you that they are up to the
challenges the future may bring.
Fire
Alarm
The
Fire Alarm Division, under Captain Thomas Stone, continued to update the fire
alarm system in 2000. The major fire alarm project for 2000 was the
“Main Street Reconstruction” project. Over 12,000 ft. of new fire
alarm wire was installed along with new pole hardware on Main Street from the
“Rockery” area to Washington Street All the old wire and hardware was
removed.
New hard wire street
boxes were added to the Strawberry Fields Development (Penny Lane & Abbey
Road), the Rockland Bay Estates Development, (Fairfield Drive at Quarry Lane
& at Flint Lane), the Old Country Way Development (Robin Lane &
Christina Drive), the Andrews Farm Development (Andrews
Farm Drive & Old Post Road) the Canoe River Estates (Canoe River Road
& Sandstone Drive). Single Street boxes were also installed on Valley
Terrace, Dolly’s Way, and at Dean Street & Summerfield Lane. These
developments were approved by the fire department prior to the installation of
our radio box alarm system. Developments approved from July 2000 are required
to install radio fire alarm boxes.
Nine (9) new Radio Master
Boxes were installed at the following locations:
Creative Homes, 187 Washington Street, Easton Country Club, 261
Purchase Street, Peoples Savings Bank , 73 Belmont Street,
Teamsters Office, 4 Hampden Drive, Delta Services , 7
Plymouth Drive, Maplewood Swim & Tennis Club, 150 Foundry Street, Father
Peyton Center, 518 Washington Street, O’Hara
Hall Dormitory, Stonehill College, and
the New Dormitory, Stonehill
College.
Three (3) new Radio Street Boxes were installed , one at Avis Circle and two (2) at Camelot Estates II.
The
new Radio Fire Alarm receiver system installation was completed at the Central
Fire Station. The old hard wire system was combined with and programmed into
the new system. I will again included a request in the FY02 capitol budget for
the purchase of 8 radio boxes to upgrade our Town owned buildings to this new
technology.
Many
volunteer hours were spent by Captain Stone assisting the “275 Anniversary
Celebration Committee” with the hanging of decorative banners through-out
town.
The fire alarm system
continues to be budgeted and successfully funded through a Fire Alarm Offset
Receipt Account.
Public
Education and Fire Prevention
The
number one priority of this Department is to prevent the needless injuries,
suffering and property loss caused by fires, accidents and related incidents.
In this regard, we maintain an extremely active educational program aimed at
preventing these incidents before they occur, or reducing the severity of any
resulting incidents.
The
highly successful Safety Awareness & Fire Education (S.A.F.E.) program is
now in its sixth year. Health Educator Kathy Kelly along with principals,
teachers and students in the Easton School Department continue to be very
receptive to this program. This program is funded by a line item in the Fire
Department budget as well as a $4,541.82 grant from the State’s Department
of Public Safety. It allows local fire departments to place a firefighter into
the schools throughout the year teaching fire and life safety.
Important fire safety lessons designed for each grade level (K-6) are
taken right into the classroom and are presented in an effective interactive
style impacting over 2000 Easton students.
Firefighters
David Beals, Thomas Nicholson, and Lawrence Blye have
built their S.A.F.E. program around 5 core subjects: 1.
Smoke Detectors in the homes, 2.
Exit Drills in the home, 3. Stop,
Drop and Roll method of extinguishing a clothing fire ,
4. How to dial 911 and give the operator vital information, 5.
Responsible behavior around fire products . These S.A.F.E.
instructors also conduct ice safety presentations to Easton students every 2
years. The program instructors will now be assuming the responsibility of
conducting and evaluating all school fire drills on a regular basis.
The highlight of October
is our annual Open House during Fire Prevention Week. Well over 3000 Town’s
people visited the Lothrop Street Fire Station on a beautiful Saturday in
October and viewed displays dealing with fire safety, fire prevention, rescue
and medical equipment and other fire service tools. All of the Fire Department’s
apparatus was on display outside the station, along with the State’s
Hazardous Materials Response Unit. Citizens also viewed an auto extrication
demonstration using hydraulic rescue tools. A fun and informative day was had
by all those who attended. Refreshments were donated by many of the community’s
businesses, most notably Papa Gino’s Pizza. I would like to thank all of the
Easton Firefighters and their families for assisting us in making the day a
success.
The Easton Fire and
Rescue Department web page can be accessed through the Internet address of http://www.eastonfire.com.
On the site you will find information about our department, fire safety
information, as well as links to hundreds of other fire services around the
world. I can be reached via e-mail through our web page, or at pblye@easton.ma.us.
Firefighter Jeffrey Webster created and manages the Home Page for our
Department.
Captain John Howard,
Fire Prevention Officer, and on-duty firefighters provided fire extinguisher
training for local nursing home staff, regional school bus drivers and Easton
businesses and Town employees in the year 2000.
The Fire Prevention
Division, under Captain John Howard conducted fire inspections as required by
State Law. Sixteen (16) Public
School buildings and two (2) nursing homes were inspected on a quarterly year
basis as were thirty-two (32) buildings at Stonehill College.
Stonehill College built a new dormitory and did major renovations to
four (4) existing buildings this year. Captain Howard, along with the Building
Inspector Mark Trivet continually monitored the construction to ensure
compliance with Fire and Life Safety Codes. Over 450 permits, plan reviews and
acceptance tests were granted, performed or conducted.
Apparatus
In the spring of 2000
the Department purchased a new ambulance as part of our continuing replacement
plan. This purchase was entirely funded by ambulance user fees collected over
a three year period. By replacing ambulances every 3 years, we ensure that we
will have a dependable vehicle to transport citizens to the Hospital during
their time of need.
Because the Town has not
funded a Capitol Budget in the last few years, and most of all, not followed a
replacement plan for items like Fire Apparatus, we are in a condition which
could very easily become a “state of emergency”.
This Town needs to have
3 decent “Front Line” pumping engines. For the last 8 years that I have
been Chief, my 5 year Capitol Budget emphasized a replacement plan based on
the purchase of a new “Front Line” pumper every 5 years. This would have
ensured that the Town would not have a truck in the Front Line older than 15
years, and reserve trucks not older than 30 years.
Our Fire Department
mechanics, Deputy Chief Ted McNeill, Firefighters Jim Tully and Larry Blye are
good, but not miracle workers. In 2000, the Easton Fire Department response
volume increased by 17% over 1999. As our population increases, our runs are
increasing. More “runs” translates to increased wear and tear on our fire
apparatus.
We cannot provide the
same level of excellent service that the citizens of Easton have become to
expect of the Fire Department if we do not have the proper functioning
equipment.
Communications
Our 400 MHz radio
communications system that was purchased in 1999 is now up and working.
Installed in all Fire Stations and fire vehicles, the system provides the
Department with improved communications. Each firefighter has his own portable
radio which enables him to directly call his Fire Officer or the station to
report emergency conditions at a scene. This provides a higher level of safety
to our personnel who perform very hazardous tasks.
In the Fall of 2000,
satellite receivers for both the Fire and Police Department were installed in
the “5 Corners” area of town to eliminate any “no communications zones”.
The new 190-foot telecommunications tower at the rear of the Fire/Police
Complex on Lothrop Street has generated $1,500 in cell revenues in the last
four (4) months of 2000.
Personnel
At the end of October
2000, my Executive Assistant Lillian McGranachan passed away suddenly. The
unexpected loss of both a dear friend and valued employee was devastating to
the Fire Department, all of it’s personnel and to me personally. Lillian had
worked for the Fire Department for 17 years and was a cornerstone of our
administrative office.
The officers and
firefighters of this department continue to donate many hours of their own
time assisting the department and attending training courses in advanced fire
fighting and medical techniques in order to perform their tasks in a more
efficient manner. I would again
like to recognize and thank all thirty-four of them for their contribution in
making the Easton Fire and Rescue Department the professional and
well-educated organization it is. As
Fire Chief, I take great pride in the capabilities and accomplishments of our
personnel who give so willingly of their time and talents for the people of
Easton. I would also like to thank my, and all the Fire Officers and
Firefighters of this department for the assistance they provided Deputy Chief
McNeill and me throughout this past year.
“The
Easton Fire and Rescue Department is committed to protecting the people,
property, and environment within our community.”
“We will be responsive
to the needs of our citizens by providing rapid, professional, humanitarian
services essential to the health, safety, and well being of the community.”
“We will accomplish
our mission through fire prevention, fire awareness education, fire
suppression, emergency medical services and other related emergency and
non-emergency activities.”
“We
will actively participate in our community, serve as role models, and strive
to effectively and efficiently utilize all of the necessary resources at our
command to provide a product deemed excellent by our citizens.”
“Always
ready, proud to serve.”
Conclusion
I would like to thank
all of Easton's citizens, officials, boards, committees, and other town
departments who have come to our assistance this past year. You may rest
assure that we will continue to provide the best in both emergency and
non-emergency services in the most efficient manner possible in the future.
Respectfully submitted,
Phillip E. Blye, Fire
Chief