Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Fire topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fire chief reports full staffing, $4,754 grant award and radios nearing end of life
Summary
The fire chief said all budgeted positions are filled, new recruits will join shifts after academy graduation, the department received $4,754.34 for ballistic helmets and warned current portable radios are obsolete and may soon pose operational risk.
The Gardner fire chief told the Public Safety Committee on Sept. 11 that all budgeted department positions are filled and that three recruit firefighters hired in April are in a 10‑week career recruit program, with graduation set for Friday, Sept. 19. The chief said recruits complete in-house field training before academy attendance so they will be assigned immediately to shifts after graduation.
The department received $4,754.34 from the Massachusetts FY ’25 Firefighter Safety Equipment grant and used the funds to buy 10 ballistic helmets intended to protect firefighters and EMTs responding to active‑shooter or violent incidents. “These helmets will supplement ballistic vests that were purchased several years ago,” the chief said.
The chief warned that the department’s portable radios are 16 years old, are not fire‑service rated, and are increasingly unrepairable as manufacturer support and parts have ended. “We’re really hoping that this funding comes through so we can purchase new radios,” the chief said, noting the department has removed failed radios from service and is approaching a critical shortage.
On fleet and facilities, apparatus purchased with ARPA funding — a new engine, a heavy rescue truck and an ambulance — are now in frontline service. A tower ladder funded earlier remains in production with expected delivery before 2026. The chief reported the headquarters roof replacement is finished but interior garage ceiling and insulation removal from previous leaks must be repaired; he anticipates a free‑cash request to the council because the expense will likely exceed maintenance budgets and estimated repair costs are “somewhere in the range of $50,000.”
Call volume has been high: the chief said the department logged about 4,500 emergency calls in 2025 to date, a pace that would be roughly an 8% increase over 2024 if it continues. The chief told the committee that some of the increase is in nontransport “lift assist” calls and accidental activations of modern personal lifeline devices, which have grown from a handful per year to “a couple hundred a year.”
