East Haven Fire Department's Volunteer Fire Companies

In my last blog we discussed the structure of the career department. This week we will discuss the volunteer companies that supplement the career staff.

Before we get into the volunteer companies I want to give you a glimpse of the departments call volume. The department has continued to be busy with the daily routines within the firehouses. During these daily routines we have still responded to many calls for assistance. For the month of April the department responded to a total of 531 calls for service.  Within the next few months I will outline the call volume for the past four years. I will also break down those totals so you can have a clear picture of what types of calls we respond to.

As we discussed in the last post the department only has 10 firefighters, EMT, Paramedics and 1 Officer (Battalion Chief) on duty 24/7. On an annual basis these 11 personnel respond to an average of 17 calls per day. Unfortunately, there is no rhyme, rhythm or pattern for the call volume. Very often the calls come in almost simultaneously requiring the deployment of personnel and resources to opposite parts of town leaving decreased personnel and resources in other sections. Additionally, anytime there is a structure fire all of the career resources are deployed.

The volunteer companies are a very valuable asset that we depend on. Unfortunately, with today’s standards and laws for firefighters it is not easy for all the departments’ volunteers to meet the requirements each year.

Today’s volunteers must be extremely dedicated to the community they serve. This is not to say the volunteers of the past did not need or were not dedicated. But today there are different and more stringent training standards for all members of the fire department. It doesn’t matter if you are a career or volunteer firefighter the training laws and standards are exactly the same. There is a lot of time and effort that all members must dedicate to training in order to meet the standards to be considered a member that can respond to incidents.

We currently have four volunteer companies in town. However, if you look back into the department’s history there are three companies that are no longer in existence.

Company #2 - Protected parts of Momauguin from 1911-1939. This fire company was called the Cosey Beach Hose Company #2.

Company #3 - Prior to the current Company #3 there was another Company #3 which was started in 1921 and protected the west end of Foxon. This company was called West End Volunteer Fire Department.

Company #5 - Also located in Foxon from 1926 to 1941 and was called the Foxon Park Hose Company #5 

Today, East Haven has four volunteer companies.  

Company #1 was established January 2, 1900 and responds out of Fire Headquarters with Squad 2. Squad two is a rescue type of vehicle that offers medical care when staffed with EMT’s and other various miscellaneous EMS and fire related tools.

Company #3 was established in 1941 and responds out of station 3 located in the Foxon section on Foxon Road/RT 80. Company 3 responds with both a rescue vehicle (rescue 3) and a fire engine (Engine 5)

Company #4 was established in 1924 and responds out of Company #4 located in the Momauguin section of town out of George Street. Company #4 responds on a rescue truck and also has a search and rescue boat.

Company #6 was established in 1927 and responds out of the only firehouse that is not staffed with career firefighters Company #6 located on Short Beach road near the East Haven / Branford town line. Those members respond on a fire engine, engine 6.

The last section of the volunteer membership is the Fire Explorer program. The explorer program is a program that is run under the auspices of the Boy Scouts of America. The program is for the town’s youths to become involved in the fire service. This aggressive group of 14-18 year old youths is the next generation of the fire department. The fire explorer program has been involved in the department since the early eighties or possibly even the mid seventies. This valuable program which is run by both career and volunteer members called advisors. The advisors are trained by the Boy Scouts of America and in addition to their volunteer time or career responsibilities these volunteer Advisor contribute countless additional hours each month mentoring our youth.  These dedicated Advisors educate and prepare the explorers for a career in the fire service either as a volunteer or career firefighter. There are many members of the career department and each volunteer company that began their fire department career as a fire explorer.

All firefighters regardless of their status as a volunteer or career firefighter must meet the same identical training standards outlined by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). These standards and laws govern who can perform specific skills and tasks on the fire ground. These requirements occupy the department training on a daily basis. For the career firefighters obtaining training occurs while working on shift. The department has a centralized training room for classroom instruction and the firefighters are frequently out within the town completing hands on training.

For the volunteer members meeting these training requirements does not come without sacrifice. To obtain a firefighter one and Hazardous material certification members must attend 170 hours of training and then pass a state of CT written and practical test. Once they receive this certification and this level of proficiency they must train regularly and they must meet the training requirements yearly as outlined by the OSHA standard.

Training and maintaining a level of proficiency and meeting the required training is one of the many challenges the volunteer members face.

In today’s economy many volunteers are either putting in more hours at work, working part time to supplement their current income. These commitments adds to their challenges to balance their job responsibilities, family commitments and the many other items we all face each day. The department volunteers not only balance their personal and family lives they dedicate many hours to the town each year. 

Because of these laws and other training requirements it has been necessary to divide our volunteer force into two groups. This is done so the departments Incident Commanders can easily identify members and level of training. On the fire scene it can be to chaotic trying to figure out who can carry out what tasks. Identifying members by helmet color makes this task much easier so the Incident Commander can focus on the incident, the tactics and the safety of everyone on scene.

We have interior firefighters who meet the requirements to go inside a building on fire. These members must become certified by the state of CT and maintain the certification of Firefighter I and Hazardous Materials operational level. These members undergo numerous classroom and hands on training all year every year to meet the standards including a live fire practice burn completed at the New Haven Regional Fire training School. The firefighter one program encompasses Hazardous Materials Operational training is currently a total of 170 hours in total of training. These members are easily identified on any incident by the color of their helmet. All department members who can enter a building on fire wear a black colored fire helmet.

All career firefighters attend the State of CT Fire Academy for a 644 hour recruit firefighter program. This program is completed within 16 consecutive weeks and is completed before the firefighter begins working on shift.

The second category of membership are those members who are non-interior firefighters. These firefighters are limited to entering a building on fire. These members are valuable as there are many exterior tasks that must be completed. These firefighters still attend numerous hours training however they don’t meet the requirements by having a State of CT firefighter I certification or Hazardous Materials Operational certification and/or they don’t meet the requirements of obtaining a yearly live fire practice burn. These members are identified by wearing a yellow fire helmet.

The third and final categories are the fire explorers. This group has severe limitations on what they are allowed to respond to and what skills they can perform. These members are identified by a blue in color helmet.

Some have asked for additional documents and information on the training requirements. For those of you who are interested below are links to that additional information.

Here is a good article written by a retired Firefighter now lawyer that explains today’s NFPA training requirements a little differently with much greater detail http://www.hgexperts.com/article.asp?id=19151

Here is a link to the State of CT OSHA minimum training requirements for the CT Fire Service http://www.ct.gov/cfpc/lib/cfpc/Required_Minimum_Training_-_OSHA.pdf

I hope this month’s blog has provided you some education to the department’s valuable volunteer force and a broad overview of the training requirements.   

The volunteer members definitely add a service that is extremely valuable. 
However, as mentioned it is getting harder and harder for these dedicated volunteers to maintain and meet the standards of today’s fire service.

In two weeks I will post and start to discuss apparatus types and job functions of the fire ground. Until then please remember to pull right for all emergency vehicles and please don’t leave those grills unattended!