GREENFIELD — Responding to firefighters’ concerns about staffing, the city of Greenfield has hired a Missouri-based consulting firm to study the needs of the fire territory.
The Greenfield Board of Works and Public Safety voted this week to spend nearly $35,000 to hire Fitch & Associates of Platte City, Missouri. In the coming months, representatives from the company will meet with stakeholders to flesh out a plan for the department’s future, specifically addressing staffing concerns.
Earlier this year, members of the Hancock County Professional Firefighters union raised alarms about the territory’s staffing levels.
Union representatives came to the city council earlier this year saying the territory — which provides fire protection to the city and greater Center Township — needs to hire 16 new firefighters as soon as possible to keep up with industry-accepted safety standards.
The National Fire Protection Agency says a minimum of 14 firefighters are needed to properly respond to a fire in a single-family home. At least 28 are needed to adequately respond to a fire in larger structures, like strip malls and shopping centers.
But in Greenfield, it’s common to have just 10 firefighters on duty at a time protecting all of the territory. They often ride with two firefighters on a truck, when the NFPA recommends a minimum team of four.
The 16 new firefighters would take the department to a staff of 65. Currently, the Greenfield Fire Territory has a staff of 49 — 44 fulltime firefighter and five administrators — to protect its 52-square-mile fire territory and 27,000 residents.
By comparison, the Brownsburg Fire Territory which serves a town and two townships, protecting 52 square miles and about 30,000 residents, has a staff of 83, including full-time firefighters and administrators.
City officials heard the firefighters’ concerns and took steps to arrange for the needs assessment — a study they said would help to determine exactly what the department requires to operate efficiently.
The Greenfield City Council allotted the funding in September from the city’s Local Option Income Tax Fund to pay for the assessment. The contract with the firm came in below the $50,000 that had been earmarked.
Local Option Income Tax, or LOIT, funds can only be used to address public safety needs.
Four companies bid for the project, and the fire department, city officials and members of the firefighters’ union were all given a chance to consider the applications.
For the firefighters, Fitch & Associates stood out as the best bet because of its well-rounded approach to data collection, said Corey Breese, a spokesman for the fire territory. So, the decision to partner with the company has been accepted warmly within the department, he said.
Fitch & Associates will examine every aspect of the department, Breese said — from station locations, manpower and shift operations to how regularly training is conducted. It will even examine how well firefighters sleep and their health and fitness.
So, the assessment will certainly leave no stone unturned, he joked. And that should paint the truest picture of what firefighters need to properly serve the community.
Fitch & Associates specializes in strategic planning for health and public safety organizations. According to its website, it specifically markets its services to fire and rescue departments, ambulance companies, 911 centers and similar agencies.
To conduct the assessment, representatives from the company will meet with firefighters, department administrators and city leaders to learn more about how the department functions each day. Their work will determine what shortfalls will need to be met, on what timeline and to what cost.
City officials have said the department is strapped for cash. The city council promised to hire three new firefighters in 2019, but only if funding is still available by June.