SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Opinion

Discussion

The Salem News has a real-name policy for commenting. Users may sign in using the Facebook Connect tool above the comments field. Once your first comment is posted by a moderator, all future comments will post automatically. If you prefer not to use Facebook, send an e-mail with your comments user name (which must be the same as your real name), city or town, street address and daytime phone number to comments@salemnews.com. A staff member will contact you directly to confirm your identity. It may take a day or two before you can post comments. Only your user name will be public. All users are required to follow our rules for commenting, which can be found here.

comments powered by Disqus
January 28, 2013

Our view: Boosting Wenham Fire Department makes sense

The Salem News

The town of Wenham has grown in recent years, and in a good way. At the same time, the availability of its on-call firefighters has been on the wane.

So a recent study suggesting that the town increase the Fire Department chief’s job to full time (from 30 hours a week) and hire another full-time firefighter seems to make sense.

Fire Chief Robert Blanchard said many of the town’s on-call firefighters live and work outside town, or have professional obligations that limit their availability. At times, the fire station is unstaffed during some peak hours and holidays.

“Our biggest concern is our response time is getting longer, and the number of on-call responders continues to drop,” Blanchard said.

In addition to boosting the chief’s hours and adding a full-timer, the study by Blanchard and other town officials suggests developing shifts for call firefighters to maximize station coverage, especially during late afternoon and early evening.

The proposed changes would cost the town about $113,000, which the study suggests could be made up from $40,000 in savings from joining the regional dispatch center, $35,000 in lieu of taxes from Gordon College and $20,000 from the Penguin Hall development.

Town Administrator Mark Andrews said he has included his proposal in the budget for the next fiscal year. On April 6, Town Meeting voters should give it their support.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Opinion

AP Video
Texas Students Coach Teachers on Fitness New Forecasting Tool Eyed for Hurricane Season Meet MJ, the Bike Riding Tabby Cat Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam Raw: Kevin Durant Tours Moore After $1M Pledge Weiner Launches Bid to Become NYC Mayor Okla. Teens Get Video of Deadly Tornado Overhead Man Shot While Questioned in Boston Probe School Storm Protection Spotty in Tornado Zones 9-year-old Tornado Victim Loved Family, Singing Moore Native Toby Keith Tours Tornado Damage Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage Okla. City Mayor: Up to 13K Homes Hit by Tornado Raw: Aftermath of Deadly Attack in London Paperless Scanner, Vision of the Future Florida FBI Shooting Has Boston Bombing Links Garcetti Elected Los Angeles Mayor Over Greuel Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado IRS Official Pleads 5th Amendment Lawyer: Feds Investigating Susan Powell Case
Comments Tracker
Roll Call
Helium debate
Helium