Chelsea Fire Department seeks funding to keep fourth engine, add four firefighters after trial

Chelsea Fire Department leaders told the City Council the department ran a trial of a fourth engine company and recommended adding four firefighter positions in the FY26 budget to make that capacity permanent and lessen overtime reliance.

Deputy City Manager Michael Mason said the department’s operating cost is rising and that personnel costs account for most of the increase. Chief John Quateri described the engine‑4 trial, reporting improved response distribution and reduced response times during the five to six weeks he tracked the trial.

“We recently deployed a fourth engine company. It's on a trial basis ... During the first 5, 6 weeks of this program, engine four significantly improved the department’s operational capacity and service delivery,” Quateri said, adding the engine “improved the distribution of resources, which has increased safety for the public as well as, the fire department personnel.”

Quateri told councilors that the proposed budget includes four full‑time equivalent firefighter positions “to help alleviate the reliance on overtime to staff this new engine.” Councilors pressed the chief on overtime trends, hiring timelines and the impact of added staff on response reliability. The chief and Mason said overtime had been used in previous years to staff supplemental daytime units but that a permanently staffed engine running 24/7 provides broader coverage without continuous overtime.

Councilors asked for response‑time data and operational examples; Quateri cited a recent Blossom Street fire where the additional engine was first on scene and helped contain burning structures and limit spread.

The presentation included a request for capital purchases and modest increases in software and vehicle replacement lines. No council vote was taken during the presentation; the department’s FY26 requests will be considered during budget adoption.