DUXBURY FIRE DEPARTMENT

LOOKING AT TODAY
The FY 04 Situation
 OUR STAFFING
We have 23 Full Time Positions.

There are 20 members who provide 24 x 7 x 365

coverage. Four Officers and 16 Firefighter/EMTs

They are divided into four shifts –

Each Shift member works two 10 hour day shifts

and two 14 hour night shifts every 8 days.

Each Shift member works 48 hours in eight
days, and that causes them to work 42 hours per
seven day work week over the eight week cycle.
 OUR STAFFING
We have 23 Full Time Positions.
Three positions are staff positions:
Fire Chief - Deputy Fire Chief
Fire Prevention Lieutenant

These staff people work day shifts only -

The Chief and Deputy work five 8 hour days

The Fire Prevention Officer works four 10 hour

days.
 OUR OPERATION
When both stations are open, we need
an Officer and four Firefighter/EMTs.
There is an Officer at Station 1 with two Firefighters.
There are two Firefighters at Station 2 (Ashdod).
We cover every vacant position.
Firefighter for Firefighter Officer
for Officer.

That is the only way that we can provide the current

level of services at the current staffing level.
 OUR OPERATION
When only one station is open, we need
an Officer and three Firefighter/EMTs.
By pooling our resources, we can run one position down
per shift, and maintain our minimum coverage.
We would cover vacant positions to keep us at the
one and three level minimum level.

This will save overtime dollars whenever an employee is

on vacation, out sick or while our two members are at
the Firefighting Academy Recruit Training Program.
 OUR HISTORY
Previous Staffing Levels
In January, 1979, when we first opened the Ashdod
Fire Station on a 24 x 7 x 365 basis, we had 21 full
time positions.

The Fire Chief worked a five day, eight hour per

day work week.

The Deputy Chief, three Officers, and 16

Firefighters worked four shifts to cover the 24
x 7 x 365 schedule.
 OUR HISTORY
Previous Staffing Levels
At that time we maintained the same man for man
coverage that we do today.
The Ashdod Fire Station was closed in 1990 because
we could not afford to maintain coverage of an
Officer and four firefighters at all times.

We need to maintain five people on shift to keep

both fire stations open, and that requires
overtime money.
 OUR PROBLEM
We are starting out FY 04 in deficit.

Our FY 04 budget was cut by $ 76,081.00 in

Salaries and $ 7,881.00 in Expenses.
We anticipated one retirement: that retirement
probably will not come unless there is some type
of early retirement package.
We have had one firefighter out for 9 shifts on
injured-on-duty leave – Cost of about $3,638.00.
He is back to full duty now.
 OUR PROBLEM
We are starting out FY 04 in deficit.

We have one recruit in the Massachusetts Firefighting

Academy 11 week Recruit Training Program now, and
one that is scheduled in the next class.

Shift coverage for the two recruits who will attend

the Recruit Training will cost about $ 16,000.00 each
making our deficit over 100 K.

Recruit training is required under the current

Collective Bargaining Agreement.
 SOLUTIONS
REQUESTED APPROVED DIFFERENCE

Vacation Coverage $140,000.00 $100,000.00 $40,000.00

Sick Injury $32,000.00 $24,000.00 $8,000.00

Training $35,500.00 $28,000.00 $7,500.00

Fire Prevention $5,200.00 $1,400.00 $3,800.00

Callback for Fires $58,000.00 $48,000.00 $10,000.00

Call Firefighters $10,000.00 $5,000.00 $5,000.00

52 Hour Week $2,597.00 $2,499.00 $98.00

Personnel Adjustments $28,283.00 $26,500.00 $1,783.00

REDUCTION - SALARIES $76,181.00

 SOLUTIONS
FY04 FY04

ACTUAL APPROVED DIFFERENCE

Vacation Coverage $151,362.00 $100,000.00 $51,362.00

Sick Injury $41,334.00 $24,000.00 $17,334.00

Training $27,320.00 $28,000.00 ($680.00)

Fire Prevention $3,794.00 $1,400.00 $2,394.00

Callback for Fires $55,094.00 $48,000.00 $7,094.00

Call Firefighters $4,319.00 $5,000.00 ($681.00)

52 Hour Week $2,597.00 $2,499.00 $98.00

Personnel Adjustments $28,283.00 $26,500.00 $1,783.00

REDUCTION - SALARIES $78,704.00

 SOLUTIONS
We still need to make up a substantial amount of
money, and hope that we don’t have extended sick
or injury leave, serious fires, a stormy winter or a
busy brush fire season next spring.
 SOLUTIONS
We see only three possible ways to accomplish this:

1. - Layoff the newest employee and put the Fire

Prevention Officer back on Shift.
2. - Close the Ashdod Fire Station for a limited period
of time and get our savings on the front end. That will
allow for small adjustments on the back end.

3. - Find additional money.

 OUR
RECOMMENDATION
Our recommendation is that we close the Ashdod
Fire Station from August 1 to December 1. This will
allow us to save overtime money while still assuring
firefighter safety.
This is the best time of year to close the Fire
Station:
Few brush and outside fires to contend with.

Fewer heater related incidents – less chance of

oil burner problems, solid fuel fires, chimney
fires, building fires, and CO incidents.
 OUR
RECOMMENDATION
Responses in the Ashdod area are still only about
35-40% of all of our total call volume.

Many of those emergency calls are south of the

Ashdod Fire Station.

We would still have a response to serious medical

calls from the Jordan Paramedic 9 Team while
that station is closed.
 OUR
RECOMMENDATION
If we ultimately get a retirement or two by way of
an early retirement plan, it will help to save more
taxpayer dollars.

However, the goal is not to save money.

The goal, as I see it, is to live within the budget

while providing reasonable response times to all of
our residents and assuring firefighter safety.
DUXBURY FIRE DEPARTMENT

LOOKING AT TOMORROW AND BEYOND

 OUR VISION
Where do you expect to be in 5 years ?
 OUR VISION
Where do you expect to be in 5 years ?
Our vision is that no Duxbury Firefighter will
make the supreme sacrifice in giving his/her life
in the line of duty in saving another life.

Sending our folks home to their families safely at

the end on each work shift is my driving force that
consumes how I look at things every day.
 OUR VISION
Where do you expect to be in 5 years ?
Our vision is that we can continue to attract
remarkable young people as firefighters who enjoy
public service and who care about our community
and its residents.

An organization’s future is clearly defined by the

quality of the people in its workforce. Our people,
both call and career, are outstanding. Our fire
department enjoys great respect in the community
because of them.
 OUR VISION
Where do you expect to be in 5 years ?
Our vision is that the Duxbury Fire Department will
still be providing the same high quality fire protection,
fire safety education, fire prevention, and Emergency
Medical Services for our customers that it provided
before the economic downturn of FY 04-05.

It is a sad testimony to wish to be in five years

where you are today, but that is the fact.
DUXBURY FIRE DEPARTMENT

Sometimes

WE DON’T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN !!

 THE MISSION
The Fire Department is considered by most people
as a necessary evil. Like health insurance and life
insurance, we are only here because people will have
serious problems that they can’t solve on their own.
I believe that our department has the most
critical mission of any department because:
Every emergency that we respond to is escalating in
seriousness and urgency. If we don’t intervene,
destruction, injury, or death will certainly occur.
We only do about 1,600 emergency calls per year
but if you are # 1486, that call is very significant.
 OUR VISION
Departmental Projects & Priorities
1. - Completion of the fire alarm and security
system program in our Town buildings.

This project is now underway. The High School fire

and security alarm system, and the receiving panel
at the Police Station will be done by October.

By next year at this time, 13 Town Owned buildings

will be fully alarmed and connected to the Public
Safety Dispatch Center.
 OUR VISION
Departmental Projects & Priorities
2. – Continuing the Capital Improvement Program so
we can continue our life saving mission.
Our dedicated people are what gets the job done
for our citizens, but our rolling stock and ancillary
equipment are essential to that mission.

History should not have to repeat itself with

the costly repairs and equipment failures that
we experienced in 1989.
 OUR VISION
Departmental Projects & Priorities
3. - Developing our Town web site into an interactive
site where our customers can purchase permits and
fill out inspection forms without having to visit us.

This could provide a substantial benefit to our

customers, the citizens of Duxbury who we all
work for.

This site has come a long way, but we still have

work to do. Mary Beth is terrific and has brought
us to the point where we are now.
 OUR VISION
Departmental Projects & Priorities
4. - Planning for the installation of automatic
sprinkler systems in several of our Town buildings.

Our insurance folks (MIIA) have recommended

sprinkler systems in the fire stations, police
station, and the DPW garage and maintenance
facility.

Alden School, Chandler School, PAC, Library, and

Senior Center have or will have sprinkler systems.
 OUR VISION
Departmental Projects & Priorities
5. - Rebuilding of the Central Fire Station into a
modern, efficient facility similar to the Ashdod Fire
Station.
 OUR VISION
Departmental Projects & Priorities
6. - Initiation of our own Advanced Life Support
(ALS) System of Emergency Medical Services for our
residents.
 OUR VISION
Staffing Levels & Future Staffing Needs.
We need to get back the Full Time Fire Prevention
Officer position that we are losing in FY04.
We need to hire the 6th position per shift as I have
previously requested.
We need to increase our call force to 15 active
members.
 National Fire Protection
Association
The City of Quincy is considering recommendations
of the NFPA for staffing levels at one Officer and
three firefighters per piece of apparatus.
That recommendation would put our shift strength at
12 instead of 5. Out total allocation of personnel
would go from 23 to 51.
That doesn’t include personnel for staffing our
two ambulances.
Our budget would increase to about 3.5 million dollars.
 OUR VISION
Could Technology Impact Your Services?
There is technology that could assist us in doing
our jobs more efficiently.
Mobile Data Terminals would provide a huge benefit,
particularly with the use of digital images of our
target hazards.
GPS and pictometry would provide huge benefits
in all types of firefighting efforts.

Completion of an interactive Town wide web site.

 FY 05 BUDGET
Expended Expended Expended Budget Requested
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

$ 1,452,589 $ 1,480,000 $ 1,547,845 $ 1,508,225 $ 1,554,037

$ 152,275 $ 152,275 $ 152,254 $ 152,404 $ 153,404

$ 1,604,864 $ 1,632,275 $ 1,700,099 $ 1,660,629 $ 1,707,441

$ 159,745.00 $ 215,203.00 $ 287,561.00 $ 265,000.00 $ 275,000.00

 FY 05 BUDGET
The FY 05 Budget reflects an increase of $46,812. 00
or an increase of 2.82 % over the FY 04 budget.

Most of that increase is the result of a 3 % pay increase

that our collective bargaining employees received as a
part of a three year contract - $ 40,506.00.

It reflects a small dollar amount for employees who

are entitled to annual step increases - $ 5,306.00.

It also reflects an increase of $ 1,000.00 in our

ambulance billing line item.
 FY 05 BUDGET

The $46,812.00 in this budget could be reduced by

about $ 30,000.00 to $ 40,000.00 through an increase
in our ambulance billing rate.
 STAFFING & SERVICE
What Does Level Dollar Funding Mean ?
Level dollar funding will create a dramatic cut in
services in FY05. We would be required to absorb
the pay increase that was approved for our
employees, and to absorb the step increases allowed
by the collective bargaining agreement.

TOTAL FISCAL IMPACT – ABOUT $ 46,000.00

 STAFFING & SERVICE
What Does A 10 % Reduction Mean ?
A 10 % REDUCTION MEANS THE LOSS OF
$ 166,000,00. BASED ON OUR FY 04 BUDGET.

Loss of 4 full time Firefighter/EMT positions.

Closing Station 2 permanently.

In my opinion, there is not even room for reasonable

discussion on the magnitude of this reduction.
 STAFFING & SERVICE
Staffing
We are currently at 1979 shift staffing levels.
After the first emergency call, we become a call
fire department.
Our number of emergency responses have doubled
since 1979.
The value of the property that we are asked to
protect has doubled since 1979.

We have added a second ambulance since 1979.

 STAFFING & SERVICE
Staffing
What about using Call Firefighters to help solve
our staffing problems ?

We have great Call Firefighters and they do a

good job for us. However, they all work full time
regular jobs. Their employer will not allow them
to leave their jobs several times a day to bail out
our fire department.
 STAFFING & SERVICE
Staffing
What about using Mutual Aid to help solve our
staffing problems ?
Because Mutual Aid needs to be “Mutual”.

Mutual Aid is a great tool. We have terrific

neighbors that help us regularly.

However, the money that we save getting it will

be spent giving it back.
 STAFFING & SERVICE
We CANNOT run below staffing of five per shift
for two stations or four per shift for one station.
That would be completely irresponsible, and could
expose the Town to liability issues.
Difficult choices need to be made between fire
department staffing for essential services, and
maintaining other programs.
We provide the most essential service of any
Town department.
 STAFFING & SERVICE
What Are Our Capitial Needs–5 Years
The Fire Department capital needs are always
outlined in a five year Capital Improvement Plan
that is submitted as a part of our annual budget
package. We have done that since 1983.

Unfortunately, our equipment is high cost stuff,

but ignoring replacement puts us back in the
1988 predicament.
 STAFFING & SERVICE

Over the next 5 years, we will need to replace two

ambulances, one command car, and one pumper. This
will meet our minimum needs and allow us to continue
with our life saving mission.

Best guest estimate at today’s prices: $ 700,000.

 CAPITAL NEEDS

Two of these @ $ 140,000.00 each.

 CAPITAL NEEDS

One of these @ $ 375,000.00.

 CAPITAL NEEDS

One of these @ $ 35,000.00.

 CAPITAL NEEDS

We won’t need any of these.

 DEPARTMENT FEES
When Was Last Fee Increase ?
 DEPARTMENT FEES
Current Fee Structure
Fees for permits covered under 527 CMR 1-50,
Fire Prevention Regulations, are governed by
Mass. General Law, Chapter 148, section 10A.
This section allows the head of the fire department
to charge a fee of $ 5.00 for permits. The BOS may
increase that permit fee, but it shall not be
increased to more than $ 10.00.

The Municipal Tax Relief program may change that.

 DEPARTMENT FEES
Current Fee Structure
Our fee schedule for inspections and permits
are based on the following philosophy:
The cost of the permit or inspection should be tied
to the cost incurred with performing the function.

Permits that are sold at the counter by employees

or others are low cost.
Permits that require trained personnel and/or that
require one or more site visits cost more.
 DEPARTMENT FEES
Current Fee Structure
Inspections and permit fees are as follows:

Permits that are sold at the counter - $ 5.00 in

accordance with MGL Chapter 148, section 10A.

Residential permits and inspections that require one

or more site visits are $ 20.00

Permits and inspections for commercial venues

are $ 50.00.
 BLACK POWDER PERMIT $5.00
BLASTING PERMIT $20.00
BRUSH BURNING PERMIT $5.00
COPY OF INCIDENT REPORTS $7.50
CUTTTING & WELDING $5.00
O FIRE ALARM/SMOKE DETECTOR INSPECTION
RESIDENTIAL $20.00

U COMMERCIAL $50.00
FIREWORKS PERMIT $20.00

R OIL BURNER INSPECTION $20.00

(NEW OR REPLACEMENT)
OIL TANK INSTALLATION $20.00
(NEW OR REPLACEMENT)

F OIL BURNER & OIL TANK INSTALLATION

(INSTALLED & INSPECTED AT SAME TIME)
$20.00

PROPANE STORAGE $20.00

E SPRINKLER SYSTEM $50.00
STORAGE OF FUEL $20.00
E STORAGE OF COMPRESSED GASES $20.00
SMOKELESS POWDER PERMITS $5.00
S TANK TRUCKS $50.00
UNDERGROUND OIL TANK REMOVAL $20.00
 DEPARTMENT FEES
How Do Fees Compare To Other Towns ?
A recent survey of area fire department’s fee
schedules shows that Duxbury is about average.

Communities with a more commercial base charge

higher fees than we do.

I would be hard pressed to increase fees at a time

when we are going to be reducing our level of service
by cutting our full time Fire Prevention Officer.
 19 Town
TYPEPERMITORINSPECTION Duxbury Average

STORAGE OF BLACK POWDER PERMIT $5.00 $5.79

BLASTING PERMIT $5.00 $8.68
BONFIRES & BURNING CHRISTMAS TREES $5.00 $2.11
BRUSHBURNING PERMIT $5.00 $1.58
CANNON& MOTOR FIRING $5.00 $6.32
COPY OF INCIDENTREPORTS $7.50 $3.55
CUTTING & WELDING $5.00 $5.53

DUMPSTER PERMIT $10.00 $4.74

FIRE ALARM/SMOKE DETECTOR INSPECTION:
RESIDENTIAL $20.00 $9.47
COMMERCIAL $50.00 $14.47
FIREWORKS PERMIT $20.00 $13.42

STORAGE OF FLAMMABLE & COMBUSTIBLE LIQUIDS $5.00 $7.89

STORAGE OF FLAMMABLE GASES & SOLIDS $5.00 $8.42
FUEL TRANSFER OPERATIONS $5.00 $3.68
FURNIGATIONANDINSECTICIDE FOGGING $5.00 $3.95
OIL BURNER INSPECTION $20.00 $8.95
(NEWOR REPLACEMENT)
OIL TANK INSTALLATION $20.00 $11.58
(NEWOR REPLACEMENT)
OIL BURNER & OIL TANK INSTALLATION $20.00 $9.47

(INSTALLED& INSPECTEDATSAME TIME)

OPENAIR FIRES $5.00 $1.84
OVENS& FURNACES $5.00 $3.16
STORAGE OF PROPANE $20.00 $9.21
(NEWOR REPLACEMENT)
SALAMANDERS $5.00 $4.47
SPRINKLER SYSTEM $50.00 $15.00
STORAGE OF FUEL $20.00 $8.16
STORAGE OF COMPRESSEDGASES $20.00 $8.16
STORAGE OF SMOKELESS POWDER $5.00 $5.79

INSPECTIONOF TANK TRUCKS $50.00 $10.79

INSPECTIONOF TRANSFER TRUCKS $20.00 $8.95
UNDERGROUNDOIL TANK REMOVAL $20.00 $16.32
 AMBULANCE FEES

Current Ambulance fees are maximum allowable

under Medicare guidelines.

They were increased in 1998. At that time, the

BOS voted to index them to the Medicare rates
so they will increase or decrease accordingly.

We should revisit our rate structure rates for

ambulance billing, although we will not receive
the additional amount for Medicare patients.
 AMBULANCE FEES
Current Ambulance fees: FY 03

SERVICE CURRENT PROPOSED

Base Rate $300 .7 8 $391.01

M ileage $10.97 $14.26
Oxygen $45 .14 $58.68
D efibrilation $98 .72 $128.34
M ast Application $64 .49 $83.84
 DEPARTMENT FEES
Revenue Projection Vs. Budget
Fire departments generally do not have the ability to
generate huge amounts of revenue.

We now generate about $ 265,000.00 in revenue

through ambulance billing and the sale of permits.
We could increase that by increasing ambulance
billing rates for non-Medicare patients.

Moving to our own ALS system would increase revenue

but it would also increase our operating costs.
 DEPARTMENT FEES
Revenue Projection Vs. Budget
We are always looking at ways to increase revenue.

A example is the fire alarm panel that is going to be

installed in the Public Safety Dispatch Center. That
will eliminate the cost of paying a Central Station to
monitor the Towns fire and security alarms.

By reducing costs for outside monitoring of our alarms,

it will serve the same effect as increasing revenues.
 DEPARTMENT FEES
Revenue Projection Vs. Budget

I see an opportunity for us to become entrepreneurial

if we wish to handle fire and security alarms for private
businesses. We have the infrastructure and we have
the people in place.

I believe there is an opportunity to make generate

revenue if we wish to venture into an area where
municipalities seldom wish to venture.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE
VISIT US AT:

www.duxburyfire.org