Marlborough Firefighters Address Importance Of Staffing

MARLBOROUGH, MA — The Marlborough Fire Department had to respond to two fires simultaneously on Thursday, prompting a local union to address the importance of full staffing.

Squad 1 was dispatched to a medical emergency shortly before 2 p.m. on Thursday, and just a few minutes later, Engine 2 responded to a car fire with immediate exposure to an apartment building on Pleasant Street. Marlborough Firefighters Local 1714 said that if Squad 1 were not staffed at the time of the first call, Engine 2 would not have been able to respond to the second fire.

"This would have resulted in longer response times from a farther away station, and the potential for a serious building fire," wrote the union in a social media post.

This comes after the union shared a post just last week, explaining the concept of a "brownout," which means that a fire company is temporarily closed due to low staffing.

The dangers of a brownout may mean that the closest company to some residents is unavailable, and they will have to wait longer for help to arrive.

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