COLCHESTER — One day after a packed Selectboard meeting in which residents demanded increased staffing for the fire department, the town manager has announced plans to hire two new firefighters.
One would fill a vacant spot “as soon as possible” and another in July, according to a press release sent late Wednesday afternoon by Town Manager Aaron Frank. The second position would be the department’s “sole request for additional staffing” in fiscal year 2025 and “is being funded a year ahead in response to the changing needs of the department,” Frank wrote in the release.
The decision followed the selectboard meeting that drew more than 70 people in the third-floor room of the town offices at Blakeley Road Tuesday night demanding additional staffing and accountability.
Among them was Michelle Collins, who worked as a firefighter in Colchester for 16 months.
“I loved my job so much I moved my family to Colchester. I fell in love with the town and the recreational activities, particularly in the bay,” she said at a selectboard meeting on Tuesday night.
But she gave her notice in March and now works in South Burlington.
Hers was one of two full-time positions in the fairly new town fire department that was created in 2020 under the leadership of Stephen Bourgeois, the fire chief who resigned last week over staffing concerns and a disagreement with Frank.
Collins spoke highly of Bourgeois and said she was disappointed the vacant firefighter position was not yet filled.
Collins said putting out a structure fire generally requires at least four firefighters: one on the truck to operate the pump, two to enter the burning building with hoses to fight the fire and rescue people, and another for backup if anyone is compromised. Since her departure, there have been only two firefighters, plus Seth Lasker, who was appointed chief last week.
“When I was hired, Chief Bourgeois made it clear to me that his plan was to hire an additional person within the year and to hire additional people after that — and that gave me a lot of hope that I was in a growing department,” Collins said during Tuesday’s public comment.
She was “very disappointed” it didn’t happen after a year of her being on the job. The staffing problem was one of the reasons she left the fire department, she said. “As a mom of two 11-year-olds, I did not feel that three full-time firefighters was a safe staffing situation on a long-time basis,” she said.
Several others — many of them firefighter union members and former firefighters — spoke about the lag in filling the position and how understaffed the department remains.
Mike Gallas, who was chief of the former Malletts Bay fire department in town before it merged to form the current department, said he is concerned about the department’s strength and about “the adversarial relationship between employees and the administration.”
Gallas, now a consultant with Green Mountain Catamount Fire Training, questioned where town administrators are getting their information about how fire departments operate and said he’d be willing to offer his expertise.
Resident Cole Hayes read from a letter of concern he sent to the town government and posted on social media earlier this week.
“Having an inadequate number of firefighters on duty could result in inadequate responses to emergencies such as house fires,” he said. “This would not only put the lives and property of our residents at risk but also undermine their trust in the department’s ability to provide essential services in times of crisis.”
Some recommended commissioning an independent study to gauge the town’s public safety needs. The selectboard and Frank did not respond to an email on Wednesday asking if that is something they are considering.
Others took issue with Bourgeois’s departure, arguing he was unfairly forced out, and urged Frank and the board to do better.
After 45 minutes of public comment, Frank gave a lengthy overview of the fire department from before the 2020 merger to where it is today. He said the town is “fiscally constrained” and no town department is staffed to meet current needs.
Colchester, home to 17,500 people, covers the largest area in Chittenden County at nearly 60 square miles, more than a third of which is water.
It has a fire chief and 3.5 full-time firefighter positions. The half-position accounts for a deputy chief — formerly Lasker — who also had other duties in town. There will be 5.5 positions after the new hires, Frank wrote on Wednesday.
The fire department also relies on 45 volunteers who work on stipend, and receives assistance from Saint Michael’s College Fire and Rescue. The department fielded roughly 1,100 calls last year.
Colchester also has a separate rescue department with six full-time staff and 63 rescue volunteers, Frank noted on Tuesday and in Wednesday’s release. An apples-to-apples comparison with fire and rescue staffing in neighboring communities shows that Colchester has 12.5 full-time fire and rescue staff and 117 volunteers, according to Frank. Plus, voters have turned down requests to fund additional public safety positions in prior years, he said.
The neighboring Essex town (about 32 square miles with 11,500 people) and the city of Essex Junction (4 square miles with 10,700 people) each operate on-call fire departments and contract with Essex Rescue for emergency coverage. The town has more than 35 volunteers and responded to 932 calls last year, according to the website. The city’s department comprises 30 volunteers and it responded to 496 calls during the last calendar year, according to City Manager Regina Mahony.
The fire department in Winooski — only 1.5 square miles and a population of 8,300 — has three full-time firefighters and 13 on-call. They responded to 385 calls in the last fiscal year, according to City Manager Elaine Wang.
The city of South Burlington — under 30 square miles with a population of about 20,200 — has fully staffed fire, EMS and fire prevention departments with 32 full-time employees. Last year they responded to 4,500 calls, according to Deputy Chief Terry Francis.
Union President Tyler Cootware put out a statement last week about the Colchester Career Firefighters Association’s concern with the staffing situation and the strife with the administration a day before Bourgeois’ departure. After Tuesday’s public hearing, he said he hopes the officials heard what was being said.
“I’m excited to see the support from the community. I would love for the selectboard to reach out and have a conversation with us and not solely with the town manager,” he said.