Reorganization of Fire Department Would Save $15,000

A reorganization of the Merrimack Fire Department, following the retirement of Assistant Fire Chief Anthony Stowers in 2012, could save the town about $15,000 if approved by the Town Council.

On Thursday night, the Merrimack Town Council voted to go to a third reading of a change to the Administrative Code that would bring back an assistant chief but realign which divisions work under which assistant.

During the initial discussion of the proposed changes to the code, Fire Chief Michael Currier outlined for the Town Council a restructuring of the various divisions of the fire department that would streamline day-to-day operations, fill an assistant chief position and still save the town money.

In addition, a residency requirement for the Assistant Chief of Support Services would allow the fire chief to not have to be on call seven nights a week in the event of an emergency during off duty hours, Currier said.

“To put this in a nutshell, what we looked at as a final review was to replace the assistant chief position, do a realignment with the (assistant chiefs of) operations and support services to provide that need where we need emergency medical enhancement training for fire and rescue and EMS and a good focus on emergency management,” Currier told the Council in December.

Town Manager Eileen Cabanel said the plan would streamline operations enough that not only would this reorganization be beneficial in terms of workload but it comes at a cost savings to the town while providing better service.
The re-organization would refocus efforts on the behalf of the assistant chief of support services to improve the emergency medical and training division, which makes up about 70 percent of the fire and rescue calls, Cabanel said. It would also add some responsibilities to the fire marshal position in adding emergency management duties to the job description and it combines the building and health departments, turning the building inspector position into a building and health official who would work with a deputy health inspector, a position that is part of the current make up of the department.

The Town Council in general appreciated the plan and the work that went in to revising the charter to improve the output of the Merrimack Fire Department and is continuing to hammer out inconsistencies in language and formatting in the document before making a decision on whether to approve it.

Following the first reading of the changes Councilor Nancy Harrington thanked the chief for the work he put in developing and presenting the plan.

At a second reading of the policy on Thursday night, Councilors got hung up on the duties, details and formatting of the section regarding the building and health official and has asked for some rewording and reformatting of that section of the charter before they will take action on the proposal.

The conversation was continued to a third reading and second public hearing for the changes to the administrative code at the next regularly-scheduled Town Council meeting on Jan. 24.