ATHOL – Citing an increased workload and rising overtime costs, Fire Chief Joseph Guarnera wants to hire eight firefighters next fiscal year.

Guarnera presented his arguments during a meeting of the town’s Capital Program Committee on March 29. The chief showed statistics showing how the workload has increased in recent years, leading to escalating overtime costs and response times, as well as safety concerns.

The chief said the population of Athol has jumped from approximately 10,800 in 1980 to just shy of 12,000 as of 2022. The number of full-time firefighters has fallen from 24 in 1988 to just 19 at present. That translates into four firefighters covering each shift, compared to five 25 years ago. The state average for line firefighters pulling duty per shift is eight.

“The yearly call total (in 1980), when there were five people on shift was 1,145 calls per year,” said Guarnera. “Now we have four people on shift and we’re doing 3,995 calls. It might not sound like a lot, but in a town that is huge – a huge number of calls.”

Guarnera said there are also instances when there are more than one call at a time. In 2020, he said, there were 387 times when there were two calls at the same time.

“What does that mean? Maybe we weren’t able to go to that second call, depending on what it was,” he said. “There were 45 (times) in 2020 when there were three calls, five times when there was four. (In 2022) there were 473 times that there were multiple calls. And 34 times when there were three or more.”

The significance of those numbers, said the chief, means somebody is either having a medical event or something that firefighters can’t get to. In those cases, the response is coming from another town, and it’s not always known if the town can supply an ambulance.

“Or, if there’s a structure fire or a rollover or whatever it may be, we’re not able to respond…This town goes without protection at that firehouse more than you even want to know,” the chief said. “That’s the problem.”

To help support his argument, Guarnera told the committee he kept track of the number of calls between July 7 and Nov. 7 of 2022 that the firefighter/EMTs were unable to respond to. In just those few months, he said the department missed 59 calls. Of those, there were 28 times when no ambulance was available.

“There were 31 times when there no personnel to respond,” said Guarnera. “It all comes down to a lot of things.”

Athol Firefighters are also now working an average of 54 hours a week. That, he contends, has resulted in an increase equivalent to 34 weeks of shifts missed due to injuries in fiscal year 2019, and more than twice that in FY23, which doesn’t end until June 30. As a result, the town is presently paying for an average of more than 58 hours in overtime per week, compared to approximately 54 over the last two fiscal years

Working an excessive number of hours can lead to tragic consequences, the chief said. In addition to its impact on decision-making, too much overtime degrades firefighter and public safety and increases the risk of property damage. The impact on firefighters can include marital problems and having to miss important family and personal functions. Firefighter/EMTs also risk making incorrect diagnoses and medication calculations due to fatigue.

The one-time cost for training and equipment, according to Guarnera and Town Manager Shaun Suhoski, amounts to just over $208,000, to come from Free Cash. Annual salaries would amount to $681,000, along with $214,000 in benefits, for a total cost to taxpayers of $895,000. Guarnera intends to seek an override of Proposition 2 ½, which if approved would result in an increase of $191.66 to the average property tax bill.

While employee costs are not addressed by the Capital Programs Committee, Guarnera intends to talk to numerous municipal boards and committees to generate support. The CPC was the first committee to get the chief’s presentation leading up to the June Town Meeting, when voters will decide on the proposed FY23 municipal budget.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.

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