Taunton Fire Union sounds alarm on ladder truck staffing. How will the city solve this?

TAUNTON – Taunton fire chiefs past and present, as well as Taunton Firefighters Local 138 have been fighting for decades to have the staffing levels of the city's ladder trucks increased.

Presently, on any given shift, a ladder truck in Taunton is only half-staffed, with two firefighters and no direct supervisor. Timothy O'Leary, president of Taunton Firefighters Local 138, said that’s a serious safety hazard, both for the team on the apparatus responding to the fire, and for the people potentially needing to be rescued on site.

Taunton Fire Chief Steve Lavigne agreed, saying the department and union have been “of one mindset and goal on this” staffing deficiency.

O’Leary, who's also a lieutenant with Taunton Fire, said “It’s gotten to the point now where it’s become a running joke,” amongst the firefighting community in the state that Taunton doesn’t have a ladder company.

The Taunton Fire Union brought the issue back to the forefront recently with posts on their Facebook page, alerting the community of the need for a ladder company. "The City of Taunton does not staff a ladder company," a Feb. 14 Facebook post on the Taunton Firefighter's Local 138 Facebook page noted. "A company is a squad or team or firefighters led by a company officer (supervisor) assigned to a particular piece of fire apparatus."

City officials heard the call this month and both parties have agreed to a tentative agreement to finally establish a true ladder company in Taunton.

What's the issue?

The National Fire Protection Association says a ladder company must to be staffed with a minimum of four people, comprised of three firefighters and one company officer, either a captain or lieutenant. That staffing level comprises a ladder company.

Currently, Taunton Fire Department does not have a ladder company as it only has two firefighters staffing each ladder truck on any given shift, without a ranked company officer included.

And while Taunton Fire has two ladder trucks in the city – one at Central Station on School Street and one at Oakland Station on South Walker Street – the department only runs one at any given time due to insufficient staffing levels.

What does a ladder company do?

When battling a blaze, members on the ladder company, with its aerial and ground ladders, are responsible for search and rescue, and cutting a hole in the structure to ventilate smoke from the building.

A ladder truck does not carry water or hoses, unlike an engine company, whose primary responsibilities are fire suppression and also search and rescue.

During a fire, a ladder, whether aerial or ground, needs to be quickly raised. A minimum of two firefighters are needed when cutting a hole into the structure, whether on the roof or elsewhere, to ventilate smoke or to gain access to rescue people.

The remaining members of the ladder company stay on the ground to operate the truck and equipment, assist with search and rescue on the ground level, or spring into action if an emergency arises amongst the rest of the crew fighting the blaze.

Understaffed truck

O'Leary said having an understaffed ladder truck is problematic and delays response time. Having only one firefighter on the roof to cut an access and ventilation point isn’t ideal, he said.

If its determined ground ladders are needed to scale the side of the buildings, O’Leary said they require three people to raise. At current staffing levels, this would require borrowing a crew member from the engine company to help.

“You’re taking away someone from the engine company who is trying to fight the fire," O'Leary said.

O’Leary added that without a company officer assigned to the ladder truck, it also currently cannot assist with and respond to emergency medical services calls.

Department, city statistics

Presently, Taunton Fire has 127 firefighters, as well as one chief, four deputy chiefs, seven captains, and 17 lieutenants. The department responded to 14,500 calls in 2023 across its five stations, which includes five engines, and two ladder trucks.

The City of Taunton has a population of roughly 59,600 according to the United States Census. At 46.7 square miles, it is also the third largest city, by area, in Massachusetts.

O'Leary said that cities and towns in the state of similar size to Taunton have full staffed ladder companies. He shared some statistics through the Taunton Fire IAFF Local 138’s social media recently highlighting the need for a ladder company. Brookline, with a population of 62,700 has two ladder companies; Plymouth, population 61,600 has one ladder company; Peabody, population 54,000 has one ladder company; Methuen, population 52,800, has one ladder company; and Attleboro, population 46,400 has two ladder companies.

Why is there no ladder company?

O’Leary said Taunton Fire has never had a ladder company, or a sufficiently staffed ladder truck, but it’s something past and current fire chiefs have been trying to acquire for decades.

It was a goal former Fire Chief Timothy Bradshaw expressed when he first became chief. “It’s inefficient and affects crew integrity. I know we’re shorthanded, but I just want what every other fire department in the state has, and they’re shorthanded too,” said Bradshaw in a 2010 Gazette article.

“For various reasons, mostly, probably financial, it was never done,” said Chief Lavigne, adding “different administrations have had different priorities and different revenue streams.”

O’ Leary agreed, saying, money has always been the underlying issue as mayoral administrations and the fire department have prioritized other concerns and expenditures over the decades.

Chief Lavigne said Taunton Mayor Shaunna O'Connell's administration has worked with the union and department to address deficiencies. “To the mayor’s credit, she’s been receptive since the beginning."

O’Leary added that Taunton Fire’s overtime budget is usually very limited and does not have sufficient funds to increase staffing for the ladder trucks. As a result, O’Leary said, it’s been a case of “kicking the can down the road.”

What the agreement means for the department

Recently, city officials and the Taunton Fire Department reached a tentative agreement to finally establish a true ladder company.

Chief Financial Officer Patrick Dello Russo said in an emailed statement that the city’s finance team and Human Resources Department is working with Taunton Fire on finding the necessary funding for this.

“We are very proud of the creative thinking and collaborative partnership between the administration and the fire department which has yielded some exciting possibilities in addressing this need in our community," he said.

Chief Lavigne said beginning in September - next fiscal year - the department will promote and staff one ladder truck with company officers. There will be three lieutenants and one captain in this ladder company, meaning shifts will now be three-person teams, bringing the total size of the ladder company to 12.

And with these four promotions comes the need to fill in the spaces being vacated. Chief Lavigne said the Union and Fire Department are “still in talks discussing the timetable to fill those bottom slots."

Overall, Lavigne is happy with the progress. “It’s taken us over 100 years to get a ladder company.”

“This is a long time coming and a welcome change,” said O’ Leary.

O’ Leary and Lavigne both acknowledge this still doesn’t meet the four-person minimum, according to national standards, but “it’s a step in the right direction.”

“We’re working towards that,” said Lavigne, about meeting the four-person minimum.

Chief Lavigne explained there isn’t talks about staffing the second truck, saying the immediate goal has been to establish one ladder company, not two. Chief Lavigne explained the fire department rotates use of both ladder trucks every few months, thereby extending the life span of both.

“It’s the firefighters that matter. It’s the people that get the work done, not the toolboxes,” he said, explaining Taunton Fire can thrive with one company.

O’Leary added: “We are trying to take baby steps in the right direction and be realistic. We are pleased with the administration.”

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton Fire Department does not have a ladder company, understaffed