YORK, ME—The town's full-time firefighters say the current paid firefighting service is too thin for a town of York's size, and they are seeking residents' support to add two more people to their ranks. But as much as they seek relief from their 56-hour work week, it is just as important to them that the town hire a full-time paid fire chief.
And if they have to wait a year or two for all of that to happen, they're willing to do so—on the proviso that the town step up to the plate now and listen to their concerns.
Town Manager Steve Burns said he hears them, and even though it is unlikely two more firefighters will be hired next summer, he does want to take a comprehensive look at the town's fire service and plans to seek funding for a professional facilitator to run a series of high-level stakeholder meetings.
Currently, the town pays for the salaries of six firefighters - three at the Beach station and three at the Village station. All the others at both stations are volunteers, including Village Chief Chris Balentine and Beach Chief Dave Bridges. The bargaining unit for the paid force is the York Firefighters Association, which is represented by the Professional Firefighters of Maine.
Several full-time firefighters recently sat down with the Weekly to discuss their concerns and hopes. Key to them is the fact their current 56-hour week is not conducive to any sort of outside life, and therefore turnover has become an issue.
"There was no turnover for 19 years and in the last four or five years, we've gone through four hiring processes," said Village firefighter Jon Gay.
"The first time I took a test to get hired, 360 people were tested to become career firefighters, and one was hired because that's all that opened up," said Beach Capt. Dave Osgood. "We just ran a test last weekend and five people showed up for one full-time firefighter in the Village."
That firefighter left for better hours at another department, an indication of why the firefighters are seeking two additions to their ranks so their hours can be reduced to 42 hours a week. According to Gerry Gay, first district vice president for the Professional Firefighters of Maine, the only other regional department with firefighters still working 56 hours weekly is Wells.
"The 56-hour week is a huge problem," he said. "That's no longer the industry standard."
"The 42-hour week will make us more appealing," Osgood said. "We can bring in people with experience and can take care of what needs to be taken care of."
In a memo to the Board of Selectmen, Jon Gay wrote that, in a municipality with the second-highest property valuation in Maine, the fire departments "have always done a good job meeting the needs of the town," but added the fire service "is severely lagging" other departments.
"We have had multiple studies throughout the 45 years that have identified the need for additional staffing and a full-time fire chief for our community," he wrote. Just as recently as this year, selectmen received a townwide staffing study that recommended a single, full-time chief, for instance.
With longtime Beach fire Capt. Mark Gay retiring next June, "There is no better time for planning and action than now," he wrote.
The men stress the importance of full-time chief position, as well.
"Both volunteer fire chiefs work full-time jobs and can't be involved in the day-to-day, 9 to 5, Monday through Friday running of the stations," said Osgood. "The time it takes during the day, the police and Town Hall side of things, is important to the smooth running of the fire service. All the other departments have paid department heads, and the fire departments should be involved in that, as well."
"The voters have always been very supportive of the fire service," Gay said. "We have really good training and equipment. If we can develop in a way where we can build upon the service we're already giving to the community, I believe they will support it."
Burns said he intends to put funding in the fiscal year 2021 budget for a facilitator to conduct a series meetings with stakeholders including Balentine, Bridges, a member of the York Firefighters Association, at least one volunteer firefighter, and representatives of York Ambulance, public safety dispatch, the Board of Selectmen, the Budget Committee and the public.
He said he wants this group to compile all historical reports and analyses undertaken over the years that address the town's fire services. He also wants the group to analyze existing data, including these reports, 911 data, a GIS analysis of responses by types of calls and outside data from other departments.
"It strikes me that a data-driven approach will help us understand current patterns as well as evaluate options for future change," Burns said. "I want a soup to nuts approach to this. I'm not sure what we have now is broken, either, or that it's fully optimized. So we need an overall game plan. It's important and overdue. I think in the end this could cost more, but we don't want a tragic fire to cause us to react. I'd much rather see us act."
Osgood and Jon Gay said they're mindful of past territorial divides by the two departments, but said the time has come for that wound to heal.
"Right now, if comes down to two new guys or a full-time chief, I would support the fire chief," Osgood said.
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