Putney fire service returns after unrest and two-month hiatus

This story by Virginia Ray was first published by The Commons on May 29.

PUTNEY — Nearly two months after the fire department collapsed, the city has a plan — and the department is back in action.

On May 24, the selection committee held a special meeting to discuss strategies outlined by the city and the interim fire chief and voted unanimously to resume the fire department's services at noon on May 25.

The town has been without an active fire department since the Selectboard voted April 3 to suspend the department's activities after the mass resignation of 12 firefighters, the entire department.

Many said the reasons behind the resignations centered on city officials' lack of respect for emergency responders.

On April 4, those who resigned from the fire department wrote an open letter to the community about their choice, calling it “an agonizing decision, since caring for the community is each member's top priority.”

The letter goes on to point out that the service “requires the trust and support of the municipal government and, unfortunately, recent years have seen an erosion of that trust, culminating in the decision of the chief [Tom] Goddard's resignation after 22 years.

“More recently, a series of poor decisions by the municipal government, including inappropriate public proclamations occurring at a critical time after the departure of the chief, created an atmosphere that further undermined the members' ability to carry out their duties. essential responsibility of providing emergency services to the city. .”

Those who resigned said in their letter that they hoped for a spirit of reconciliation and wanted “to be part of the effort to visualize, plan and rebuild the Putney Fire Department in conjunction with the Selectboard and the community “.

At that time, Town Manager Karen Astley began working on the plan – the Putney Fire Department's interim strategic model plan for reactivating fire services – with new Acting Fire Chief Brian Harlow.

“The complexity of this situation has several layers,” Astley wrote at the time. “Open communications and discussions with the city’s firefighters have taken place and will continue. »

She said the Selectboard and her office would be “committed to resolving this situation with the assistance of members of the Putney Fire Department.”

“We are listening to the community’s concerns,” Astley wrote. “We are doing our best to resolve the situation with as little disruption to public safety services as possible.”

Since the suspension, mutual fire assistance has come from Dummerston, Westminster and Brattleboro.

On April 5, Rescue Inc. launched a first response program for the city. Emergency medical services (EMS) will remain at Rescue Inc. for the time being, but the department will assist when and where needed, upon request, Harlow said.

EMS will be addressed once the fire department is operational again.

“We are ready to go”

“It seems like we're comfortable with it,” Selectboard Chair Aileen Chute said of the plan before the vote during Friday's 30-minute meeting. “In general, I think the more we have written down, the better we'll understand what's going on, and we won't get to that point again.”

Chute thanked Astley, Harlow and others.

“We’re ready to go,” she said. “Thank you for all your work.”

The board addressed issues raised by Selectboard Vice Chair Peg Alden, who was not present, including the lack of regular reporting to the board by the fire department and a job description for the interim chief.

Regarding improving interdepartmental communications, Chute said, “I don’t know what I don’t know. »

“Delegating responsibilities will be key to building a system where one person doesn’t do everything,” Astley said of the plan.

Harlow said he was confident the fire side of the department would be viable by the next day, noting that 10 members of the department are currently fully certified and a few more are “close.”

Additionally, the acting chief said the new department had “a [number] newcomers who are quite green, but I feel they will adapt quite quickly.

Former board member Laura Chapman, speaking during the discussion about the importance of coordinating efforts once a call comes in to provide optimal response time, supported the chief's efforts interim while emphasizing his concern about the challenges related to informal communication.

“There have been a lot of hurt feelings going through this process over the last few months, if not years. […] and I hope that you find ways to be truly inclusive of everyone and that you are also inclusive in your speech,” she said.

“I hear the language 'guys' used a lot, and it's not just guys,” Chapman pointed out. “I hope you can think about it and take it into account in the future.”

After the meeting, she clarified that while she understands many people use the phrase “in a gender-neutral way,” it nevertheless “sends a clear message.”

“Addressing language is essential to creating an environment where everyone feels safe and valued,” Chapman wrote on Facebook.

She called on the community “to address these issues to ensure that everyone, regardless of gender, feels included and respected in the fire service, where misogyny has often been not only overlooked, but accepted, and sometimes even tolerated.” so that men are like guys.

“This led to serious problems and is part of why we got to the point where we no longer had a department,” Chapman continued. “Changing language is the simplest solution to a much larger problem. »

Training, recruitment and return to the community

The new plan begins by noting that the department “has experienced an evolutionary change” with the retirement of former Chief Tom Goddard shortly after a January analysis of operations by AP Triton, a public safety consulting firm based in Wyoming.

That study highlighted areas of deficiency “that can be addressed to ensure safety from risk and liability,” the new plan says, and it recognizes that the city is “at a crossroads in determining how to move forward.” before” both in the short and long term. process over time.

Like many volunteer fire departments across the state and nation, the Putney Fire Department – ​​a municipal department whose operating budget is supported by property tax revenue – faces challenges recruiting and retain staff, limited funding and meeting service demands.

“Customer demands continue to increase, while financial resources and adequate staff time continue to decrease,” reads the plan's introduction. “This trend is putting increased pressure on modern fire services and policy makers to find ways to be more effective and efficient.”

At the same time, the plan recognizes that “the Putney community is accustomed to certain standards of service from the Putney Fire Department.”

The plan — which may well be modified as the reactivation process progresses, city officials say — calls for the interim fire chief to focus “on basic firefighting, reducing the burden on departments mutual aid, train and effectively recruit members by establishing clear objectives. , create a level of trust within the structure of the system and allow people to be welcomed into the department.

Regarding the concern, prior to suspending operations, of “whether or not current employees are properly trained and what type of training is required,” the plan details the minimum certification requirements for fire and emergency services personnel. emergency.

Initiatives include:

• Accelerated training for certifications.

• Encourage current firefighters to register for firefighter certifications.

• Maintain the current list and recruit new firefighter candidates.

• Reconnect and communicate with department members who have resigned “to ask them what their intentions and expectations are,” and plan an open house with a public recruitment campaign.

Addressing the “lack of delegation and training on critical systems within the fire department,” which the report said “has left current staff and city management in a situation where upgrading systems current ones can take time. “in place”, the plan proposes several initiatives:

• Look internally within staff and delegate certain tasks to others.

• Hire at least one or two administrative staff members to help you with the daily tasks at hand. This person may be part-time.

• Authorize training on necessary platforms from appropriate vendors, including ESO, the department's software for fire incident reporting.

• Ensure firefighters are connected to the city's IT infrastructure for protection and compliance.

Finally, the plan aims to implement response performance goals and reevaluation criteria within one month, noting that the Putney department “will need a transition plan for Putney EMS employees.”

Advisory committee looks at future priorities, including EMS

The city also established a firefighter advisory committee. Alden, who sits on the panel, says the group is working on a medium-term plan.

This plan will address some of the concerns from the department's analysis of AP Triton operations and engage the community “in determining priorities moving forward.” […] including the emergency services model that best suits Putney and the role of a new permanent fire chief,” she said.

The AP Triton report identified 49 issues and recommended actions, ranging from developing a new key policy and long-term financial plan to reassigning the fire chief's duties to reassessing the mission of the service, the development of a solid communications plan and the implementation of a periodic review process of operational guidelines.

“I can't speak for everyone, but I feel like the majority of the selection committee and the majority of people associated with the fire service support the idea of ​​moving forward with a possible solution,” Chute told The Commons about a week ago.

“As for the cause of the current situation, I would say that there have been complicated issues with the fire service before I was a member of the Selectboard, and our current situation was perhaps inevitable,” he said. she declared. “I hope we can all learn from this and move forward towards a lasting solution.” »

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