“Always ready, proud to serve.”
To the
Honorable Board of Selectmen:
I am
pleased to submit the Easton Fire and Rescue Department Annual Report for the
year 1999 for your review.
“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.”
Deputy
Chief Norman McNeill, Operations Chief, reports that there were a total of 2543
incidents responded to by the department in 1999, for fire, emergency or other
related problems. There were 32
structure fires, 63 wildland and brushfires and 30 other types of fires. There
were 4326 Fire and Rescue Department equipment responses in 1999.
I am pleased to report that in 1999 none of our citizens lost their
lives, or were injured due to fire. Estimated
property loss for all 1999 incidents to which the fire department responded
amounted to $151,925.00, a decrease in loss of $363,075.00 from last year. Ten (10) firefighters were injured in the line of duty in
1999, down by five from last year.
In 1999
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 451 auto accidents. Fire personnel responded to 12 spill
or fire incidents involving hazardous materials in Easton during the year.
There were
1454 emergency medical responses by the Fire Department Ambulance in the past
year, an increase of 68 responses over last year. These responses resulted in the transport of 997 persons to
local hospitals. The Easton Fire Department employs Advanced Life Support
trained personnel to a total of nine (9) Firefighter/Paramedics and seven (7)
Firefighter/Intermediate Emergency Medical Technicians. In addition we have 18
Firefighter/Basic Life Support EMTs.
All fire
stations remained open during the year.
On January
1, 1999 the Department went on-line with new dispatch software. It enables the
Department to generate a number of different reports. It has provided us with
some interesting statistics. For example, we have found that in 1999, more calls
for service occurred during weekdays than on weekends and that the busiest day
was Thursday. More calls occurred between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. than at
any other time of the day, with 8 – 9 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 6 minutes.
Most of the time the apparatus arrived on scene in 3 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. Station 2 responded to 1020 calls in
1999, 59 more calls than Station 1, Lothrop Street, and 326 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. During
the year members attend required training which provides individual skills
development and promotes 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, has continued to update the fire
alarm system. In 1999 the Department installed the receiving portion of our new
radio box fire alarm system. The first fire alarm master box using this advanced
radio technology was installed at the Creative World Day Care Center on Depot
Street. Several more radio boxes are due to go on-line in the year 2000. I have
included a request in the FY01 capitol budget for the purchase of 8 radio boxes
to upgrade our Town owned buildings to this new technology.
The hard
wire system was extended down Poquanticut Avenue to the Strawberry Fields
development, down Bay road to Rockland Bay Estates, down Bay Road to Quail Lane
and Deer Run Road, from Washington Street into the Old Country Way development
and from Washington Street down Dolly’s Way. New fire alarm street boxes were
installed Penny Lane (2), Fairfield Drive (2), Dear Run Drive (2), Robin Lane
(1), Christina Drive (1), and Dolly’s Way (1). These developments were
approved by the fire department prior to the installation of our radio box alarm
system. Developments approved from July 1999 will be required to install radio
fire alarm boxes.
Captain
Stone replaced damaged wiring on Dickerman Road and Eisenhower Drive with all
new wiring. The Telephone Company replaced over 100 poles in the town in 1999. A
great deal of time was spent moving existing fire alarm wire and hardware to the
new poles. The fire alarm system continues to be budgeted and successfully
funded through a Fire Alarm Offset Receipt Account.
Fire
Study
In 1998,
the Massachusetts Municipal Association conducted a study of Easton Fire
Department operations and station locations. As a result of that study, the
Selectmen commissioned a task force to develop and report back to the Board on a
master plan to implement the study. This
Committee is comprised of the Town Administrator, Fire Chief, Police Chief,
D.P.W. Director, School Committee representative, Finance Committee
representative, and two members of the Fire Union. This “Fire Study Master
Planning Committee” has met throughout 1999 and into 2000 to complete this
task.
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 (now in
it’s fourth year), continues to be well received by Easton elementary school
children and teachers. Funded by a $4,821.01 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 again taught there fire safety
message to all Kindergarten classes and Day care centers on Fire Prevention Week
in October. They continued in following weeks, teaching grades 1 through 6.
The
highlight of Fire Prevention Week was our annual Open House. Approximately 2000
Town’s people visited the Lothrop St. 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 has it’s own web page. Using the latest technology
to further the Fire Prevention message, the web site can be reached 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.
The Fire
Prevention Division, under Captain John Howard conducted fire inspections as
required by State Law. Schools and
nursing homes were inspected on a regular basis. Underground tank removals and blasting operations were
monitored and target areas where fire-safety education was needed were
identified.
Apparatus
In July
1999, The Fire Department took delivery of a new pumping engine and aerial
ladder truck manufactured by Pierce Manufacturing Inc. of Appleton,
Wisconsin. Town Meeting voters had approved their purchase last year. After
in-depth training on the apparatus by all firefighters, the two vehicles were
put into service in September. Our other apparatus is in fair shape. In the
spring of 2000 the Department will be purchasing a new ambulance as part of our
replacement plan.
Communications
A new 400
MHz radio communications system was purchased and installed in all Fire Stations
and vehicles, providing 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
Spring/Summer of 1999, the Town issued a Request for Proposal to replace an
aging antenna tower at the rear of the Fire/Police Complex on Lothrop Street.
Nelson Communications proposed a 190-foot tower at no cost to the town in
exchange for telecommunications space on the tower’s lower levels. The Town
will get a share of revenues generated by this arrangement. All of the Town’s
communications antennas will be placed at the top of the structure, providing
all municipal departments with superior communications.
Personnel
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 Executive Assistant Lillian McGranachan,
and all the Fire Officers and Firefighters of this department for the assistance
they provided Deputy Chief McNeill and me throughout this past year.
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.
On New
Year’s Eve, the end of year 1999 and the 20th Century, while the
citizens of Easton celebrated the beginning of the new millennium, the Easton
Fire Department was on duty with extra personnel, prepared to deal with any Y2K
problems that were predicted to occur.
I would
like to leave you with a final thought: The 1999 statewide average per capita
spent on municipal fire protection was $106.68
per capita (estimated based on 3%
increase/year from 1995 average of $94.81 reported by the Massachusetts
Department of Revenue). The Easton Fire Departments 1999 budget was $2,
022,818.00 / 22,868 population = $88.45
per capita. For only $88.45 per
capita, (even below the 1995 state average), the citizens of Easton get high
quality fire protection and ambulance service!
Respectfully
submitted,
Phillip E. Blye, Fire Chief