On June 7, Nick Marsan, President Westport Uniformed Firefighters, wrote a letter to community members, which he published on their Facebook Page. The message states that the department's lack of adequate firefighters is putting community members in danger - residents are urged to contact elected officials and Westport First Selectman.
First Selectman Jim Marpe publically rejected the claim Westport residents are not properly protected from the risk of fire by posting his response on the Department's Facebook Page. “I’m confident that current staffing levels and fire stations don’t undermine the safety of the community. Our funding bodies have made every effort to ensure safety while being fiscally responsible and fair to all taxpayers,” Marpe said.
He goes on to say mutual aid agreements with neighboring communities ensure fire safety professionals have been able to respond with appropriate force and speed to all areas of Westport. “Over the last decade, we’ve had various fires but no significant injury or loss of life for firefighters or residents that could have been prevented by additional staffing,” Marpe said.
He poses a series of questions to Marpe.
The Marsan's letter reads:
As firefighters in the Town of Westport, your family’s safety is our number one priority - unfortunately we have reached a point where we are no longer able to protect you in a way your family deserves. We have long made due without the necessary number of firefighters to keep the community safe – currently, we have two fire engines, one in Greens Farms and one in Coleytown, that only have two firefighters on board. In the event of a fire, a two-person fire engine arriving on scene would be very limited in what they can do – they would be faced with the hard choices of rescuing a trapped family member, attempting to extinguish the fire, or waiting for others to arrive – which could be many minutes later. Anyone of these choices poses a serious threat to both the families and firefighters of Westport.
The Westport Fire Department needs 3 firefighters on every engine – this is what is needed to keep every neighborhood safe. The town is currently growing – both in development and in population – the number of firefighters, however, has not. The current resources given to the fire department are irresponsible and place increased risks on residents.
The average sized home in Westport – 5,500 square feet -- is too big for a two person engine company to operate safely or effectively. Town officials have acknowledged this fact as far back as 2007, but have continuously declined our efforts to have full crews on all fire engines. National standards and studies have determined that, in order to operate safely at a house fire in a 2,200 square foot residence, requires each engine to have four firefighters on board – we are only requesting three. Please take a look at the attached graph which shows how many homes are above the town’s average.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Rest assured that we will give each emergency our strongest and best efforts – as we always have; but please support our need to operate more safely – both for your family and for our families as well.
In response to Marson's letter, First Selectman Jim Marpe rejected the claim Westport residents are not properly protected from the risk of fire. “I’m confident that current staffing levels and fire stations don’t undermine the safety of the community. Our funding bodies have made every effort to ensure safety while being fiscally responsible and fair to all taxpayers,” Marpe said.
He goes on to say mutual aid agreements with neighboring communities ensure fire safety professionals have been able to respond with appropriate force and speed to all areas of Westport. “Over the last decade, we’ve had various fires but no significant injury or loss of life for firefighters or residents that could have been prevented by additional staffing,” Marpe said.
He poses a series of questions to Marpe.
Why did an independent consultant who was sought out, vetted, and contracted by Town officials, state that “the two-person staffing of Station 5 (Greens Farms) and Station 6 (Coleytown) is not sufficient for the risks present in the areas served by these stations”? How then are you so confident that current staffing levels do not undermine community and firefighter safety? What facts are you basing your position on?
How is safety fair for all residents, if, though everyone pays the same rate of tax, two large sections of town do not have the equitable and safe response from the fire department? How is this fiscally responsible and fair?
How responsible is it of you to rely on mutual aid responses as first response to fires in town? Relying on other departments for a first alarm fire is foolish and irresponsible – and if I were a taxpayer in Norwalk or Fairfield, I’d be paying keen attention to your answer on this one.
Do you require a severe injury or death at a fire before you’re convinced staffing could make a difference? Seriously though, how do you know this, since you just stated that reliance on mutual aid is the reason why we can respond with appropriate speed and force?
Westport Firefighters Facebook Page has dialogue from residents as well as the First Selectman. You can learn more by visiting the page here.