Western MA Fire Departments Strike Mutual Aid Pact

Eight Western Mass fire departments have entered into a mutual aid agreement in the event more help is needed in combating the coronavirus pandemic sweeping across the region.

The coalition consists of fire departments in Agawam, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Southwick, West Springfield, Westfield, and Wilbraham.

Westfield Fire Chief Patrick M. Egloff said Wednesday the mutual aid agreement has been put into place to keep departments properly staffed in the event fire personnel become infected with COVID-19.

“This allows us to use each other’s resources,” he said. “The most important thing we have is our people. The agreement is in place in case the fire department is decimated (by COVID-19).”

So far, the Westfield Fire Department has five confirmed cases among its ranks. All have either been quarantined or recovered, Egloff said. He added that all personnel are required to have their temperature’s checked before entering the building.

Agawam Fire Chief Alan Sirois issued a statement saying the “unprecedented agreement” allows firefighters to work across municipal borders and fill staffing shortages that would severely impact individual communities.

“Fire chiefs…have entered into an agreement that allows them to exchange personnel in the event of staffing shortfalls during the COVID-19 state of emergency,” he said. “First responders working on the front lines of the COVID-19 response are regularly exposed to contagious patients. While they are typically well protected, exposures can and do occur.”

Sirois said none of the agencies are in immediate danger of having to put the agreement in place, but it does create a degree of comfort for members of the communities and firefighters.

“Provisions of the agreement would only be activated if an individual community was unable to meet its operational requirements with its own personnel,” Sirois said. “The agreement is only in effect for the period of the COVID-19 Emergency Pandemic and is being jointly managed by the department fire chiefs.

The unique collaboration is a tribute to the professionalism of the area fire departments and demonstrates the outside-the-box thinking that is required to navigate successfully through these challenging times.”

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