Council's War Against the Fire Rescue Department

If we look at both the context and the sequence of events and actions this Town Council has taken since June 2005, it appears that this Council has been waging an undeclared and progressive war against the Gray Fire Rescue Department (GFR) and its membership.

Let’s look at the facts:

1. This Council refused to honor the previous Council's commitment to make a token monetary contribution to the 125th Anniversary Celebration. (Granted the sum requested showed incredible political naiveté on the Association's part, but what the heck, they are firefighters not politicians). Perhaps this is not a big deal by itself, but in context to all of the other events, it is the first insult in the Council's long campaign.

2. Reeling from the 125th sting, the Fire Department suddenly finds itself under attack by both the Council and the Monument for not filing a Mass Gathering Ordinance permit within 60 days of the 125th Anniversary Celebration. The intent was to provide fuel for the Council's campaign against the Mass Gathering Ordinance and at the same time undermine and embarrass the Town Manager and the Fire Chief. Eventually a number of local business owners with heavy investments in the 125th helped convince Council to find a way through the impasse. Why would any true leader allow such a thing to spin out of control like this?

3. Council starts savaging the Fire Chief for advising the Planning Board (upon their request) as to the type of fire suppression measures that are necessary for various subdivision applications in order to protect the public safety. Hmmm, is there anybody who knows how to fight a fire better than the Fire Chief? I have checked Councilor’s resumes and found their NFPA fire chief certifications wanting. Nor have I ever seen one of our leaders with a fire nozzle in their hands. Small detail: while the Council was busy demeaning John Barton's expertise, he was completing his term as the President of the New England Fire Chiefs Association, elected by all of the New England Fire Departments to be the Chief of Chiefs. But foolish me, I did not realize that our Council as so much more experienced and knowledgeable than Jon Barton.

4. Against the advice of the Fire Chief and without consulting the Public Safety Committee, the Council passes Order 77. Have any of you read this monstrosity? Here is the link: http://www.graymaine.org/Public_Documents/GrayME_CouncilOrder/2006orders/S008F8A2B it gets even more surreal when read in context of the subdivision ordinance:

SECTION 401.27 A – UTILITIES The site, type and location of public utilities, such as street lights, electricity, telephones, gas lines, fire hydrants, etc. shall be approved by the Board and installed in accordance with local practice provided, however, fire hydrants and/or related water retention facilities for fire safety protection shall not be required.


SECTION 401.34 C - WATER SUPPLY- Storage shall be provided as necessary to meet peak domestic demands and fire protection needs provided, however, fire hydrants and/or related water retention facilities for fire safety protection shall not be required.


Why the hell would the Planning Board require fire hydrants or surficial water supplies for anything but fire suppression? Maybe this is the key; the Planning Board could require fire hydrants and fire ponds or cisterns in subdivisions as a water supply to wash Public Works trucks or rinse the roads after sand removal in the spring and hence be in compliance with Order 77.
This crass piece of legislation is clearly intended not to protect the lives and property of Gray residents, but to only lessen the overhead costs of the development community. It is such a blatant Tammany Hall sell-out, stunning in its audacity and such a corrupt act that it should have shocked the community to the core. But we were all asleep at the wheel, reassured by the Council's lapdog newspaper, while the Planning Board, the Chief, and his firefighters were publicly whipped and humiliated.

Thanks to TinMan for raising the point in his blog that it has been over six months since the Council stated that they would have a new fire protection ordinance immediately in place.

Council's fealty to the development community has succeeding in achieving the following results:

a) Puts firefighter lives in greater peril: Most of the new subdivisions are in remote parts of Town where there are no surface waters readily available for suppression purposes.

b) Puts homeowner lives and property in peril: The future residents of subdivisions developed under Order 77 will be unwittingly purchasing homes that lack adequate fire suppression capabilities that will become apparent only when an emergency arises. However the insurance adjusters will note the project deficiencies and surprise them with an unexpectedly higher premium, year after year.

c) Increases the Tax Burden on the General Taxpayer: Just because the developer isn't required to install adequate fire protection facilities doesn't make the deficiency or the fire danger disappear. At some point glaring fire protection deficiencies will have to be corrected. And who will have to pick up the tab for these post-facto corrections...the developers? No they and their money are long gone. Will the residents in the new subdivision, step up to the plate to finance correction of the public safety problem? No, they won't have the resources. Besides these new residents will correctly argue that the Town was negligent when it failed to adequate protect the public safety and welfare during the approval process, and therefore the Town should be responsible for picking up the remedial tab.

Which means that the costs of correcting these public safety nightmares will fall on all of us taxpayers? Such remedial actions will be portable cisterns in lieu of the permanent cisterns that the Planning Board and Chief would have required the developer to pay. These portable cisterns carry only 1/15th of the water capacity of the permanent varieties, have a service life of only 25 years, and cost $500,000 to purchase. We call these portable cisterns "additional fire engines. Which would you rather see-the developer installing a cistern or you buying and maintaining another Engine 2 every 20 years or so?

What is amazing is that this Council touts itself as the administration of fiscal responsibility. But in reality this moronic land use policy will actually cost the taxpayer more dollars both now and long into the future. This Council has prided itself on being more responsible and responsive to the citizenry, but the elimination of any fire protection measure in our land use ordinances is criminally negligent and intended only to serve the land rich old boys and their developer friends.



5. Next slap in the face of the Fire Department was the refusal of the new manager to name the existing Deputy Chief as the "Acting Fire Chief”. Gee he was only carrying the weight of the Chief for the last year of Mr. Barton's life, quietly and with dignity. In their time of great loss, the Gray Fire Department has needed a feeling of continuity that Deputy Ryan could provide. But the one-month old manager is too inexperienced to recognize that naming the Deputy "Acting Chief" provides some interim continuity and maintains morale without committing the Town to permanently hiring the Deputy in the PSC position.

6. Finally the decapitation of Gray Dispatch at a time when the department is in mourning and demoralized and purposefully deprived of a leader is the Council/Manager's latest coup de grace. We have heard Council state that they have been working on this project since last November. The truth is that Skip Crane has been working on this project since November with only one entity-Cumberland County dispatch. Public Safety Committee was handed this concept for review only in July. And in the interim they have pointed out a myriad of irregularities including sole sourcing of the contract and failure to match apples to apples bid requirements. Crane is in a headlong rush to give the bid to County. Why? The allocation for the dispatch center is set for the year and paid for. It just can’t be the money, because the PSC has received a lower bid from State Police with better services. Public Safety has been collaborating with the Town of Raymond to develop a regional dispatch center in Central Station that could end up costing the Town zero dollars. Making money instead of spending it, now that’s an idea worth exploring.

Taken individually, any of these events could be written off to oafish handling of volunteers, poor judgment, or just procedural error. But in sequence and together it appears that Council is engaged in a coordinated, concerted, and unprovoked assault on the Fire Department.

If I were on the Fire Department, I think I would getting quite angry at being so poorly used and so pushed around. I might be inclined to push back.

And that would be a disaster for us all.