Spencer Fire Department receives grant for 24/7 staffing
SPENCER — For the first time, the Spencer Fire Department is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Thanks to a $1 million FEMA grant, the department hired four more firefighters who started in February. The grant covers their salary and benefits for the next three years. It brings the staff to nine full-time firefighters.
"(The new firefighters) have been training this whole time to get them up to speed so they could start going on their own," Spencer Fire Chief Robert Parsons said. "Once they get trained on a couple of different apparatus, they can start doing a 24-hour shift. So, if someone calls out sick, there's still somebody that can drive the truck."
Parsons said the number of call, or volunteer, firefighters has decreased over the last 50 years.
"Back in the 1960s, they had 100 call firefighters," Parsons said. "We just don't have people wanting to become call firefighters anymore. For most communities, they're going to be looking at trying to do something (like this grant) as well. Otherwise, they're not going to have anybody to go out the door for a call."
The new additions ensure that two firefighters are on duty at all times. Parsons said Spencer residents should see a reduction in their fire insurance. Now that people are in the station 24 hours a day, it helps the department's Insurance Services Offices rating.
"If there's a call late at night (the firefighters) can get out the door much quicker than waiting for call firefighters to get out of bed, get dressed, drive to the fire station, get an idea on the apparatus and get the truck out the door," Parsons said. "It should get a truck on the road much quicker than we have in the past."
Since the grant only lasts for three years, the fire department will need to rely on the town to continue covering the cost of the new firefighters.
"They're going to have to do something in the future. No fault of the schools but the cost of minimum local contribution the state requires us to pay for schools is greater than what we bring in in growth," Parsons said. "There's no extra money this year and going forward, so (the town) is going to have to do something creative to figure out how else they're going to pay for the positions."
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: FEMA grant gives Spencer Fire Department 24/7 staffing for first time
