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LWV Shared Services Study 2003

Summary of the Current Functioning of Fire Departments
in Hamilton and Wenham
 

General Organization

The fire departments in Hamilton and Wenham are similar in size and budgets. Both have budgets of about $400,000, and rely primarily on a call firefighter force. The call firefighter system has historically provided excellent coverage for very low cost. Call firefighters are available 24 hours a day via a pager; they do not work shifts, and in theory all or none may show up at a fire when paged. The first truck to a fire should have four firefighters on board.

All call firefighters work additional jobs, and many live and work in other towns. They do not live at the fire station, and the towns’ fire stations do not include dormitory facilities. Hamilton’s force includes four full-time employees, while Wenham’s has one and one-half full-time employees [i.e. one of the employees works 20 hours per week].

Daytime availability of call firefighters has been central to the success of the call system. In the past, there has been an adequate supply of trained call firefighters who live and work in close proximity to Hamilton and Wenham. However, both departments caution that the present system may not be workable indefinitely. Daytime coverage is becoming increasingly difficult because fewer people work close by, and because the training required continues to increase.

The departments are organized slightly differently. The Wenham Fire Department is administered by a ‘weak chief’ who serves at the will of the selectmen, and is unionized through a private association, “The Wenham Call Firemen Association.” Wenham firefighters are not required to belong to the union, and in fact the majority does not belong to the union. However, the union does all the bargaining for Wenham firefighters. The Hamilton Fire Department is administered by a ‘strong chief’ who hires and fires all officers. In addition, the Hamilton department is not unionized. Both the Hamilton and Wenham fire chiefs attend the monthly meetings of the Essex County Fire Chiefs Association.

The budgets are organized differently, making it difficult to compare the two departments. For example, in Wenham the fuel for the fire trucks is included in their budget, whereas it is not in Hamilton.

The major difference between the two departments is the difference in their responsibilities for emergency services in their respective towns. The Hamilton Fire Department is not involved in EMS (Emergency Medical Services) runs; instead, the Hamilton Police Department responds to medical emergency calls using the town-owned ambulance. The Wenham Fire Department does respond to emergency medical calls, using their ‘rescue truck’ to stabilize victims until Lyons Ambulance Service arrives. The town of Wenham pays Lyons an annual contractual fee for their services. One result of this functional difference in the departments is that the Wenham Fire Department actually makes more annual runs than the Hamilton Fire Department, although Wenham’s population is smaller. More than 1/3 of the 700 annual runs by the Wenham Fire Department are EMS runs. There is some feeling in the Hamilton Fire Department that the EMT skills of the firefighters are underutilized by the current emergency service arrangements under which only police officers accompany the ambulance in Hamilton. 

Current Cooperation

The Hamilton and Wenham fire departments cooperate extensively. Each automatically responds to structure fires (i.e. fires involving smoke and flames) in the other town. Sometimes the dispatch call will specify that a fire is a ‘structure fire,’ and other times it’s not classified until assessment on site. Fires at any of the schools would be treated like any other structure fire.

A very successful regional mutual aid system exists between Hamilton, Wenham, Ipswich, Peabody, Marblehead, and Beverly, with Beverly serving as the lead town. The town fire departments assist each other via written mutual aid agreements between chiefs or an “upon request” basis. Both Hamilton and Wenham provide far more mutual aid to their partners than they request in return. In addition, ‘line boxes’ (theoretical areas agreed upon by the chiefs) along town boundaries provide designated areas within which towns respond automatically to each others’ fires. For example, Manchester has a “line box” at the upper end of Chebacco Road, and Beverly has a “line box” on Charles Davis Drive.

The two departments share academy training with other towns (Hamilton, Wenham, Essex, and Manchester), and also share some specialized training. They occasionally cooperate in fire prevention programs at the schools, although generally speaking the departments conduct programs at the schools in their towns [note: Buker is the only school in Wenham]. The mock accident drill at the High School involves the fire departments in both Hamilton and Wenham. In addition, the police and fire departments share some training within their respective towns, including Hazardous Materials training.

Towns are assigned a rating for insurance purposes by the Insurance Service Organization based on a 100-point system which evaluates factors such as water supply, adequacy of fire apparatus and equipment, staffing, training, fire prevention, communication, and so on. The point system creates a score between 1 and 10; an acceptable range is a score between 1 and 6.  The “ISO” score may have a large impact on commercial insurance rates. Hamilton’s ISO is 4, and was last calculated in the early 1990s; Wenham’s ISO is also 4, and was last calculated 2 or 3 years ago. If resources (such as equipment) are shared through an intergovernmental contract, all participants receive credit for the resources for ISO purposes. 

Equipment

Equipment is similar in the two towns, though differing slightly: both departments own 3 pumpers and 1 ladder truck. In addition, Hamilton owns a cascade truck (also known as a ‘mobile air unit’ which refuels firefighters’ air tanks), and Wenham owns a ‘rescue truck’ in conjunction with their emergency services function. Hamilton’s cascade truck would be available to Wenham (or any other mutual aid partner) whenever needed. The cost of a new ladder truck is about $500,000; Hamilton’s ladder truck is slated for replacement in 2012, while there is no specific date for replacement of the ladder truck in Wenham. In the past, Wenham has simply replaced the cab when it has been required; the ladder portion of Wenham’s truck is in excellent condition at present. Ladder trucks go to all structure fires.

Wenham has a substation at the Iron Rail property which is helpful because much of the town’s population growth has been in that area. In addition, many Wenham Highway Department employees are also call firefighters, and they are able to respond to calls when they are at the Highway Department’s Iron Rail facility. Wenham houses a “reserve” pumper at the Iron Rail which is fully functional, although somewhat older. This pumper goes out on calls two or three times per week, but is not used for runs to Hamilton. 

Hamilton would like to have a substation, but the cost is prohibitive. [Note: a substation was once planned in Hamilton on School Street.] In theory, Wenham’s pumper at the Iron Rail might eventually be able to respond to fires in Hamilton along Essex Street and Chebacco Road.

Unique Features 

Each town has a few unique features. For example, Wenham’s department routinely responds to Beverly Airport calls, along with Beverly and Danvers, and serves a surprisingly busy section of Route 128. Wenham responds to calls at Gordon College, for which the college reimburses the town. Hamilton shares coverage of Pingree School with Ipswich, and shares coverage of Bradley Palmer State Park with Ipswich and Topsfield. Hamilton covers Gordon-Conwell Seminary, but does not receive reimbursement; however, the seminary is responsible for very few calls. Hamilton is responsible for all Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District schools except for Buker Elementary.

In Wenham, water availability is fairly consistent throughout the town. Parson’s Hill is the part of town with the longest response time, but it also has the best protection because all its houses possess sprinklers. Wenham requires all new homes to include sprinklers from Charles Davis Drive to the Beverly town line.

Chebacco Road has the slowest response time in Hamilton, and also does not have a fire hydrant. Cutler Road is a problem until the bridge is updated. Asbury Grove is particularly vulnerable for several reasons, including the fact that some of its roads are not plowed in the winter.

Alternative Arrangements

The following observations were noted while collecting fire department information:

• In many parts of the country, fire service is provided by full-time firefighters covering a large multi-town region.
• A regional fire department might shortchange small towns like ours because of the demands of covering the surrounding larger towns.
• There are no legal obstacles to the creation of intergovernmental agreements by towns in which they agree to share aspects of their services and equipment.
• It would seem that Hamilton and Wenham could share a ladder truck and still provide adequate coverage. Comparable towns have only one truck, and Boxford has no ladder truck at all.
• It may make sense to create formal regional agreements when changing from a call force to a full-time course becomes necessary. This change may entail creating dormitory space.

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