CT Firefighter Creates Company to Fill EMS Gaps Across State

As a shortage of firefighters, especially volunteer, continues to grow throughout in Connecticut, a Bridgeport firefighter has created a company that is ready to help when called upon.

Harwinton resident Tom Varanelli a former volunteer firefighter and current lieutenant with the Bridgeport Fire Department, founded Northeast Fire-Rescue.

The business helps communities with Emergency Medical Services shortages.

“At this time, we provide (Emergency Medical Technicians) and/or paramedics to the department, not firefighters,” Varanelli said. “However, we are fully insured and capable of providing firefighters to any department within the state of Connecticut. Our specific goal is to help struggling volunteer organizations who are having difficulties responding to 911 emergencies due to low volunteer membership.”

Varanelli said Northeast Fire-Rescue, which is based in Harwinton, is the only fully licensed and insured firefighter and EMS staffing company in Connecticut.

Currently, the company is partnering with 10 municipalities, including Central Connecticut State University. Northeast Fire-Rescue is providing paramedics and EMTs for Canton Fire/EMS, North Branford Fire/EMS and Southbury Ambulance Assocation. The company also provides EMTs to Storm Engine & Ambulance Company ( Derby), Winsted Area Ambulance Association, Sharon Ambulance, Kent Fire/EMS, North Canaan Ambulance, Rocky Hill Ambulance and Plymouth Volunteer Ambulance Core, as well as EMTs for special events at CCSU.

CT communities need to ‘think outside the box’ as firefighter shortages increase. A ‘safety crisis.’

Varanelli said he’s been involved in public safety since he was 17 years old and his father was a career fireman in Waterbury. He started Northeast Fire-Rescue 3 1/2 years ago.

Varanelli noted that the recent report conducted by State Comptroller Sean Scanlon, which found that volunteer fire departments were down 62.7% since 2017, was spot on.

“The shortage is unlike anywhere else in the country. I would call it a crisis on volunteerism in both EMS and in firefighting, especially in the suburban or rural volunteer communities, they’re struggling,” Varanelli said. “The state comptroller’s report is accurate that if towns don’t start to look at alternative options, start thinking outside of the box, they’re going to be faced with a precarious situation, and our goal is to be that stop gap for them.”

Varanelli said most towns with volunteer fire company have not budgeted for staffing or paid staff in any capacity.

“It’s a big process for (towns) to undergo,” Varanelli said. “The first step is to reach out to us. We’d obviously would go and meet with them. We want to hear their needs because every town is a little different, a little unique. Each community has different intricacies, and we sit down with the fire chief and town managers and figure out what they need and build out a contract based upon their needs.”

Varanelli said typical contracts are three to five years.

“If they allocated the funding for it, we get the ball rolling. If not, we will wait until they get the funding is allocated,” Varanelli said.

Varanelli said the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We offer a nice blend that allows volunteers to continue being volunteers and serving their communities and being the best of what they are giving back to their communities. We are there to help when they are their low points,” Varanelli said.

Varanelli said, depending on needs of the town, he would deploy two firefighters or EMS workers to a town Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. when most volunteers are working. When a call comes in, the two firefighters or EMS workers would work with the available volunteers to respond to the emergency.

“We’d be there to augment and supplement them during most difficult hours,” Varanelli said.

Varanelli said his firefighters would include 18- to 21-year-olds that are in college, career firemen working off-duty, as well as retired career firefighters who would work as supervisors.

“Our goal is to take the more experienced firefighters and have them staff and work at the volunteer organization so the chiefs feel comfortable knowing that if a fire or something large comes in, that we have experienced team members with their younger members to guide and motivate and ensure that the job is done safely,” Varanelli said. “We’re a unique entity and a stopgap for a small community so the volunteer organization still gets to thrive and to ensure that all calls are being answered. The chiefs will get a bit more sleep at night and the community will know that the apparatus will respond.”

Javonte Ramos was a chief for the Storm Ambulance Corps in Derby when the organization brought in Northeast Fire-Rescue.

“We were having staffing issues and the company we were using at the time couldn’t provide the services that we needed,” Ramos said. “We awarded the contract to Northeast, and it’s been a great relationship ever since. We have a good rapport with Tom and his crew, and they’ve been nothing but great ever since.”

Ramos said Derby uses Northeast Fire-Rescue for EMS. The ambulance corps is completely separate from fire department. It is staffed Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m and on the weekends 24 hours. The times in between are all volunteer.

“But if we needed them for the fire department, we would speak to them and tell them what our needs were and come up with a plan,” Ramos said. “They are very reliable and offer training and other resources that we need. Overall, it’s a great relationship with them since we started.

“I think smaller towns that are run by a staffing agency or have their own EMTs or need firefighters during the day to staff their trucks, I feel Northeast would be a great middleman in getting them the coverage that they need and getting their trucks out the door and help with response times and the overall need of manpower,” he added.

The current head of Storm Ambulance Corps in Derby, Chief Tommy Lenart Sr., said Northeast is needed during the day and on weekends when there are no volunteers available.

“He provides the manpower for us through his staffing service, so we are a combination of some volunteer staff and some paid staff,” Lenart said. “We give all of our preference to volunteers and hope to keep them. When we can’t fill spaces, we have no other choices.”

Lenart has been with Storm Ambulance Corps for more than 30 years. He has witnessed first-hand the drop in volunteers for both firefighting and EMS.

“I remember when I was first getting into the fire department the city was setting a limit of 75 volunteers per company. There were four companies in Derby and to get in you literally had to wait for someone to pass away, resign or move on,” Lenart said. “Now I see the numbers shrinking, and I can’t remember the last time there was a waiting list. The numbers are dwindling. It’s getting to the point where it’s really scary.”

Lenart said Storm Ambulance Corps currently has 45 EMTs. When Northeast is called upon during those allotted hours, they bring in two EMTs to work in the ambulance and the rest remain volunteers.

“The toughest part is recruiting and keeping volunteers because it puts pressures on families,” Lenart said. “The breadwinners are both working. They have a family and the training requirements for volunteers and physical requirements for volunteers. There’s a lot of time involved and it all takes a toll.

“One thing I’ve seen in EMS is that people are working in multiple agencies,” he added. “We aren’t near the pay level of career firefighters, so people supplement that by working for different agencies.”

Lenart said the relationship with Northeast Fire-Rescue has been Derby responding in a timely manner and has “cut down the response times immensely.”

Madi Csejka a spokesperson for the Office of the Connecticut State Comptroller, said Scanlon has had conversations with many parties including Northeast Fire-Rescue on this topic.

“Comptroller Scanlon continues to reiterate that firefighter recruitment and retention is a public safety crisis,” she said. “He is in continuing conversations with fire service leaders, policymakers and other stakeholders, including Northeast Fire-Rescue, to come up with the best solution for our communities and state.”

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