Torrington public safety board debates EMS response policy amid staffing concerns; chiefs report equipment repairs, grant reimbursements

Torrington’s Board of Public Safety spent a substantial portion of its Jan. 8 meeting on EMS response policy, staffing levels and the operational strain on fire apparatus as commissioners pressed fire leadership for data and plans.

Fire Chief Jack Borden (identified in the meeting as Chief Borden) updated the board on equipment and personnel. He said one ladder truck had been out of service due to a stalling problem caused by a failed high-pressure fuel pump; parts are at an outside vendor and the chief said the turbo or pump replacement was imminent. “That truck should be ready to go tomorrow,” Borden said in the meeting’s discussion of vehicle repairs, and he offered to provide the board with a year-to-date total of repairs and costs.

Borden noted recruits and a driver-testing schedule tied to new contractual language and said the department secured funding approvals to send five recruits to the academy in February. Deputy Chief (unnamed) told the board the department has submitted reimbursement requests under the AFG (Assistance to Firefighters Grant) program, and “we received $121,000 back to the city” for training; overtime reimbursement submissions were pending, the deputy chief said.

Commissioners repeatedly raised concerns that increased EMS responses were putting wear on apparatus and could leave the city vulnerable to structure-fire demands. “If there’s a fire and our guys are on an EMS call, I don’t want to gamble like that,” said Commissioner McLeod, capturing a central worry among board members. Chief Borden and others said the department has not missed calls and that the city remains able to respond, but they acknowledged the tension between answering more EMS calls and meeting the staffing minimums described in standard guidance referred to in the meeting as “17-10,” which calls for a minimum number of personnel on the scene of a residential structure fire.

Chief Borden said he supports the staffing-level guidance in principle but said meeting that standard is a community-level fiscal decision: “What they’re looking for is 17-10 … 15 people per shift as a minimum. That’s a physical thing or fiscal thing that we have to, as a community, say, what do we wanna do and how do we wanna support that?”

Trinity Ambulance representatives and volunteer fire departments were discussed at length. Commissioners asked that LCD (the regional dispatch/PSAP) be more involved in policy discussions; several board members suggested dispatch protocols and the trigger words used by 911 callers influence which apparatus are sent. Commissioners asked for more interoperable communications and an analysis of why both ambulance and fire apparatus are frequently arriving on the same calls and why trucks subsequently “turn back” to service.

Volunteer departments reported heavy call volumes and ongoing recruitment challenges. Drakeville and Toringford volunteer departments described spikes in November response counts and relief they provided to Torrington units during a busy November with multiple brush and structure incidents. Toringford reported 425 dispatches last year and described recruitment spending of more than $5,000 on advertising that produced limited applications; at the same time volunteer departments said they continue to supply specialty apparatus (tankers and brush trucks) and personnel that are frequently relied on in areas without hydrants.

The board agreed to pursue a sequence of requested reports: commissioners asked department heads for a three-year self-assessment of goals and outcomes, a facilities condition report in February (the mayor suggested starting with the Silver Petrucelli facilities study), a five-year plan and, specifically for April, an EMS plan that addresses the board’s operational questions. The board’s policy subcommittee is continuing to review dispatch/EMS policy, and commissioners asked that LCD and Trinity be included in relevant discussions.

Ending Board members said they will seek data-driven updates in coming meetings — including detailed repair costs, recruitment figures, dispatch-run sheets and the existing five-year EMS plan filed with the state — so the board can consider budget and operational options before contract renewal dates for EMS services arrive.