Greenwich FD Fire department plans $36M in upgrades

[Guest BrotherFF]

http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/sc...local-headlines

Fire department plans $36M in upgrades

By Martin B. Cassidy

Staff Writer

October 14, 2007

Spending millions to end lagging backcountry fire protection is a top priority of a new long-range blueprint for the Greenwich Fire Department.

While the plan addresses overall protection in the town with a projected $36 million in spending over 15 years for firehouse renovations, equipment, and other advances, a prime goal is achieving quick improvement in coverage of the backcountry, where many homeowners struggle to obtain fire insurance, said Fire Chief Peter Siecienski.

"The importance of what we are doing is setting out an overall plan so you have something to guide us and follow," Siecienski said of the long-range plan which covers the department's capital and operational plans.

While assembling the plan, Siecienski dealt with some of the insurers to find out what steps would result in better insurance ratings for the town's residents.

In the 2009-10 fiscal year, the town has budgeted $2 million to build the long-awaited King Street Fire Station, which will require another $1 million in fire engines and more than $1 million annually for 16 additional firefighters to staff the house, Siecienski said. Those expenditures are included in the $36 million total, he said.

In the next three to five years, Siecienski said he expects to spend up to $1 million to install another 25 dry hydrants and cisterns in parts of the backcountry where firefighters deal with a lack of water supplies when fighting blazes.

"In the mix of things we can move the dry hydrant program more quickly and hopefully accomplish more in the near future," Siecienski said.

The fire department has already located 12 potential lakes, ponds, and other private water sources where they hope to gain permission to put dry hydrants, suction devices which can be tapped into any water source four feet deep or more, Siecienski said.

In some areas where dry hydrants can't be installed, the department will build underground cisterns which can hold up to 30,000 gallons of water which could be drawn to put out fires, Siecienski said.

The water supplies will hopefully curb astronomical insurance rates for backcountry homeowners, who often have trouble obtaining fire insurance, said Laurence Simon, chairman of the Board of Estimate and Taxation Budget Committee, who worked with Siecienski on the master plan.

In December 2004, the New Jersey-based International Organization for Standardization, an independent rating agency whose analyses are used by insurance companies to set home insurance rates, gave the town a split rating of 4/8B, with 1 meaning the highest level of fire protection.

The first digit -- 4 -- is a rating of fire protection in parts of the town within 5 miles of a fire station and no more than 1,000 feet from a hydrant. The second digit and letter -- 8B -- is the rating for most of the backcountry, where many homes are more than 5 miles from a fire station and more than 1,000 feet from a hydrant or water source that can provide 250 gallons per minute for 20 minutes during the initial response to a fire.

"Fire insurance in the backcountry is very expensive and we hope we will be able to provide some type of relief by improving protection," Simon said.

Other aspects of the master plan include criteria for upcoming renovations to the Glenville, Byram, and Sound Beach fire stations and what kind of fire engines and other equipment each house should have.

Siecienski said each of the stations will serve various purposes, so future renovations must take into account both space for a potential expansion of the number of career firefighters and sufficient community meeting space for volunteer companies and other groups."Some of the departments have served as community hubs while others are less that way," Siecienski said. "It's important that they be designed individually with that in mind."

Careful choice of fire engines so they are suited to the emergencies they most frequently deal with, whether highway accidents, fires or rescue, is also a concern, Siecienski said. He cited recent problems with Cos Cob Engine 2, one of the department's larger and heavier vehicles, which is poorly suited to that neighborhood, where many streets are narrow.

As a result, the engine has had a series of mechanical problems and minor accidents that could have been avoided with a lighter more appropriate engine, Siecienski said.

"In that case Cos Cob tried to make that truck into too many things," Siecienski said. "There are narrow streets in Cos Cob that aren't suited to a larger truck."

The methodical approach of a master plan will hopefully result in a marked improvement in water supply and falling insurance rates for backcountry residents, said Joan Caldwell, a Riversville Road resident and chairwoman of the District 11/Northwest delegation of the Representative Town Meeting."It is a master plan to deliver better fire protection but the most need was and is in the backcountry," Caldwell said. "I'm glad the town is going in this direction and I praise the fire chief for going in this direction."

The master plan will be reviewed by the Board of Estimate and Taxation, who asked for the plan to get a picture of how capital and operational expenditures would improve performance, Simon said.

[xfirefighter484x 234]

Sounds like they got their act together, or are trying to. Bravo!

Glad to see some departments taking progressive steps (whether late in the game or not) to get up to speed, and hopefully a little ahead of the game!!

[IzzyEng4 427]

I agree they are being very proactive. It cost $$$ but you know what if you have a master plan like the one described here, it sounds like they area well on thier way and have room to change potential problems along the way also. Hope things work out for the GFD.