Branford Fire Department Staffing and Facilities Plan

Dear Honorable Board Members and Elected Officials,

The Board of Fire Commissioners, along with the Fire Department Administration, has been warning for years that the Department is facing a staffing shortage. The erosion of the volunteer force has reduced the number of trained volunteer members to critically low levels. The volunteer companies are more than just a backup to the career staff. These companies are strategically located within densely populated areas where people live and sleep; they are the first responders in their districts. They also provide the additional workforce needed for various call types that require a multiple-company response.

Call volume has steadily increased driven mainly by emergency medical incidents. The frequency and length of these incident types often leaves, us solely reliant upon the volunteer companies.  

Four of our five engine companies are volunteer. Despite recruitment and retention efforts that include following recommended best practices, we continue to lose volunteers faster than we can replace them. Since 1996, three volunteer companies and the volunteer rescue squad have closed due to declining membership. Branford is not alone in this trend; it is a statewide and national problem. Membership has dropped so significantly that in most instances, we can only rely on a single volunteer company by combining the available members of all four. We’ve added automatic mutual aid from East Haven to compensate for our lack of resources. However, this comes with the quid pro quo of sending our limited resources out of town to provide the same service to East Haven. 

Two additional issues exacerbate the problem. First, development already underway, with more proposed, will add even more pressure to an already overburdened system. The second is a deployment problem: our resources are strategically deployed at multiple stations to meet the recognized standard of an engine company on a scene within four minutes. Unreliable staffing at these locations prohibits us from achieving this response time goal and creates an inequity of service for the parts of town previously protected by volunteer staff. 

Our community has outgrown its fire department, and action is required to match our resources to the needs of the people we serve. This report provides background and significance to assist you with making informed decisions regarding the future of our fire and emergency services. Please read the information within and carefully consider our recommendations. 

Yours in Service,

Robert J. Massey, Jr. - Chairman, Board of Fire Commissioners 

Thomas F. Mahoney, Jr. - Fire Chief