Oct. 19--LONDONDERRY -- Town Manager Dave Caron came back to the Town Council Monday evening with a recommendation to add four firefighters and buy another tanker for the Fire Department.
This was in response to a presentation to the council at its meeting Sept. 26 about the fire at 38 Hemlock St. on April 13 that took the lives of Frances Gehling, 64, and her daughter, Rebecca Gehling, 23.
The Fire Department study evaluated response times from mutual aid teams, staffing in the Londonderry department, water supply issues and safety observations.
Water supply was a problem for firefighters. The nearest fire hydrant was over the Derry town line, some 890 feet from the residence, according to the Fire Department's incident analysis,
Manpower also was an issue. Ten Londonderry fire personnel were on duty at the time.
"The outcome of that fire would probably have been the same since it was so involved," Fire Capt. Jim Roger said. "What worries me is that if we come to a structure that is not as extreme, say 25, 30 or 40 percent involved, we might not have enough manpower to put it out."
Caron told the council it would cost $327,000 for the four firefighters, a sum that would be added to the fiscal year 2013 budget. Fiscal 2013 begins next June, which means the new firefighters could be on board in the second half of the year.
In order to meet the council's staffing goal of 11 emergency responders per shift, the town will also have to fully fund overtime expenses, Caron added. Currently, Londonderry employs 40 first responders, with 10 employees per shift on each of the four shifts.
Fire Chief Kevin MacCaffrie is updating an analysis of the cost of fully fund the department's overtime needs. It is estimated to be upward of $190,000.
Caron also noted that a "placeholder" in the amount of $350,000 for a 3,000-gallon tanker truck has been included in Year 6 of the proposed Capital Improvements Program. That means the purchase wouldn't occur until 2018 unless the date is pushed up.
Less feasible options Caron explored were recruiting volunteer firefighters and adding fire hydrants.
Although volunteers played an important role in the town in the past, Caron said, "nowadays, it would be extremely difficult to implement" a volunteer program.
"The previous volunteer system was feasible when many residents worked in the same community where they resided," Caron said. "In addition, firefighters (today) respond to calls for medical issues, hazardous waste cleanup, extrications and other rescues."
Councilor John Farrell added that eight volunteers would need to be trained to get just one to a fire scene.
"For eight people to show up, you need 50," he said. "To train and outfit volunteers is about $8,000 each."
Councilor Joe Green said he would still like to explore the possibility of call firefighters.
"I think there may be people out there," he said. "I'm just trying to exhaust every single aspect of this and it's worth considering."
Caron said he also received an estimate to put fire hydrants on the 114 miles of road without them.
"Total infrastructure investment is estimated at $120 million," he said.
Green asked if that means hydrants will never be available throughout Londonderry.
"It's a great idea, but it's just not feasible as far as economics go," Council Chairman Sean O'Keefe said.
