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Middletown fire chief reports staffing shortfalls and rising maintenance costs
Summary
At the March 16 Middletown Public Safety Commission meeting, Fire Chief Albert said the department is operating with about 17% of suppression staff out and flagged over $90,000 in parts costs in 2024–25, urging cost-saving procurement and promising a detailed repair-line report at the next meeting.
MIDDLETOWN — Fire Chief Albert told the Middletown Public Safety Commission on March 16 that the department is facing personnel and maintenance strains that could affect response capacity.
“Right now I currently have 17% of my suppression staff — 10 members out of the 60 — who are either out on FMLA, comp, light duty or military,” Chief Albert said, describing the shortfall at the start of the commission’s monthly report. He said the department recorded 346 calls for the month and described recent mutual-aid responses, including a small structure fire and a water rescue of a kayaker.
Albert also flagged rising maintenance costs, saying the repair line is exhausted and that the department paid “over $90,000 in parts” in fiscal 2024–25. He described vendor markups as a driver of expense — “if we buy that $20 filter, we’re paying $40 for that filter” — and urged the commission to consider direct purchasing from manufacturers or from suppliers such as NAPA to reduce parts and service charges.
On equipment testing, Albert said annual pump testing is required under NFPA standards and estimated service fees run roughly $1,200 to $1,500 per rig, plus labor charges.
Training and facilities were presented as partial offsets to those pressures. Albert said Wesleyan allowed the department to use a building for bailout-kit and simulation training, and that the department has been using interactive training software to rehearse fire conditions and officer decision-making. He said work on the Cross Street station’s roof and HVAC is nearly complete and that the purchase order for a training building is in process.
Albert said the department handled about 806 EMS calls during the period cited and that crews continue to preplan apparatus access in areas such as the North End, where street constraints dictate which trucks can operate on particular blocks.
The chief said the department will provide a detailed two-year report on repair-line expenditures, labor, fuel and parts at the next meeting, responding to a prior request from a commissioner. He stressed that staff shortages were expected to be temporary but said the combination of absences and maintenance costs requires creative budgeting and interdepartmental resource-sharing.
The commission did not take a budget action at the meeting; Albert asked commissioners to forward a separate donation item to finance (see separate article).
