Somerville firefighter Tom Ross, with Engine 4 (left), at the Somerville Avenue/Lowell Street firehouse.
(George Rizer/Globe Staff)
SOMERVILLE
There was no hope of saving the house.
The Dec. 6 fire on Harvard Place was just too fierce, said firefighter and Local 76 president Jay Carbone. Still, he thought firefighters could have reached two seriously injured victims sooner - if they could have used Engine 4.
The truck was stationed down the street at the Somerville Avenue/Lowell Street firehouse. But it was offline. The city limited Engine 4 to part-time use in the summer of 2003, after the state cut local aid. In the fall, the fire chief effectively limited its use to major emergencies only.
On Dec. 6, eight of the department's nine trucks were out responding to other calls, including the tower truck - which does not have its own water supply - based at the Lowell Street firehouse.
Now the union is fighting to bring back Engine 4, saying it's a matter of public safety.
Overall, Carbone considers the department underfunded and understaffed. Twenty or 25 years ago, the city had 248 people handling 5,000 to 6,000 calls a year, he said. Now 143 handle almost 11,000 - and about a dozen are on leave because of injury.
Furthermore, the 20-year veteran added, the average age in the department is 47.
The firefighters aren't alone in feeling their age; some of the department's trucks are years past their replacement date.
"The bottom line is we are not a priority - basically, public safety is not a priority in this administration," Carbone said.
Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone disagreed, saying, "We're proud of our Fire Department." He said the situation is under control and he wants to focus on the future.
Somerville spends $151 per resident on the fire budget, Curtatone said, more than Medford and Lowell and $1 behind Malden. He added that since 2004, his administration has spent about $2 million on equipment and infrastructure, including two new trucks.
Most important, he said, "We have actually one of the best response times in the Commonwealth" - three minutes. The National Fire Protection Association standard is five.
The city has applied for a federal grant to create a fire rescue unit with eight new firefighters. Medical calls now make up about 40 percent of the department's workload. Curtatone said he also plans to look at reorganizing the department and ensuring diversity.
"We need to step back now and think long-range about the community's needs," he said. It's "not about putting one piece of apparatus back in full-time mode."
Engine 4 would be particularly expensive because firefighters would draw overtime pay to staff it.
In a presentation to the Board of Aldermen's Public Safety Committee last month, Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher estimated that reinstating Engine 4 from February through the end of 2008 could cost $360,468, and he has already predicted a $290,266 deficit in this fiscal year's overtime budget.
Alderman Thomas F. Taylor, whose ward includes the firehouse, said he has been "fighting to put Engine 4 back in service," but said that if the city had to choose, a fire rescue unit should take priority.
He noted that according to the mayor, if the fire rescue unit materialized, the department could move Engine 1 to the Lowell Street station, restoring the capacity there.
Carbone said there is no guarantee the city would get the grant, and that conducting a study is "just more systematic delay."
Hanging out at Razzy's bar a few blocks away, locals Keith Cornella and Matt Cadarette, both 32, had not heard about the issue.
Cornella lives a few doors down from Harvard Place and recalled that the response seemed inadequate. He remembered thinking, "There clearly is not enough water on this fire.
"They had two hoses running and it took another 10, 15 minutes before they got more," he said. "The initial response time was good, but they didn't have enough firefighters on the scene."
While Carbone said the department has wide public support, Taylor said, "My constituents aren't breaking down my door saying 'Engine 4 should be back in service.'
"There seems to be a tug of war between the firefighters' union and the administration."
Correction: Because of a reporting error, a Feb. 17 article about the Somerville Fire Department incorrrectly reported the name of Jay Colbert, a firefighter and president of Local 76.
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