Canandaigua FD

[Geppetto 31]

For those who are unaware - This department went from primarily career to primarily volunteer, a major change for the trend of things...

Guest essay: Chief, firefighters doing what they were asked, doing it well

Kay James

Messenger Post

Aug 19, 2010

http://www.mpnnow.com/opinions/x2092794851/Guest-essay-Chief-firefighters-doing-what-they-were-asked-doing-it-well

[JM15 386]

Very interesting as it is usually the other way around. It seems to be working well for them according to the article, I am confused as to what happened to the career ff's. Were they all laid off?

Edited August 19, 2010 by JM15

[Bnechis 3,961]

For those who are unaware - This department went from primarily career to primarily volunteer, a major change for the trend of things... Guest essay: Chief, firefighters doing what they were asked, doing it well

Very interesting as it is usually the other way around. It seems to be working well for them according to the article, I am confused as to what happened to the career ff's. Were they all laid off?

This was a department that had 14 career firefighters or 3 per shift. Due to budget cuts, on Jan. 1 2010 4 firefighter positions were cut and those. members were laid off. That left 2 career ff's on duty. On July 1, 2010 an additional 4 were laid off leaviing 1ff on duty in the department.

The proposal to switch came from the city manager who admits this was her idea and did not come from the Fire chief or the volunteers. The majority of the volunteers had not completed there 6 month probationary period by the end of July. When the 1st lay offs occured there were no volunteers qualified to drive apparatus.

The FD budget went from $2.4m to $1.8m due to the cuts.

To make up for the lack of personnel the chief has developped an automatic aid system that on all fire calls two FD's respond and a 3rd goes on standby. The CFD had an average response time of 3.43 minutes prior to the lay offs. The 2 mutual aid VFD's have an average response (in there own districts) of 5.97 minutes and 9.28 minutes. According to the chief all 1st allarm assingments now require 3 departments.

Here's an interesting fact: the fire chief reports that the city paid the volunteers were paid $200,000 to take over. THe chief also reports that response tims for the volunteer engine have incresed to 7-8 minutes.

The chief said they have 24 volunteers most have started training. It is his goal to “ramp up” the force to at least 40 active volunteers by the end of the year. He noted, however, that numbers aren’t everything.

Some FD stats: 2 fire stations (1 in the city, one in the town). 11,000 residence in the city and 5,000 in the town in 40 square miles. The FD responds to 900 calls/yr. Prior to Jan. 1 there were 21 volunteer, 14 (made a minimum of 25 of the 900 calls), 7 of those were interior qualified. None were drives. So they gained 3 volunteers after laying off 8 career ff's. According to ISO those 8 career memebrs will require 24 additional volunteers.

In 2007 the city hired a consultant to review the FD. the conclusions drawn were they needed an additional 5-15 career firefighters, particularly since attempts to increase the volunteer response had not been working. The city council approve the FD to apply for SAFER grants in 2006 and 2008. The FD was awarded the grants which were then rejected by the city council.

ALso of interest is the Merrill Hose Volunteer Fire Company, which is there volunteer unit. Its website claims to have over 100 members (but dept records show only 14 made it to more than 2% of the calls.) There is a 2nd volunteer company, but I could not find any info other then a mention of them in one of the studies (Erina Hose Co.) that they were recieving both tax money and 2% funds.

[Geppetto 31]

City of Canandaigua to fight firefighters ruling

By Melissa Daniels, staff writer

GateHouse News Service

Sep 17, 2010

C

anandaigua, N.Y. — City officials will appeal a judge’s ruling ordering them to reinstate laid-off firefighters.

The city violated the Public Employees Fair Employment Act when it transferred work from the firefighters to the volunteers without negotiation, said Matt Fusco, the attorney who represented the firefighters’ union.

“We have said from the beginning that the city has ignored our contract, that the city has ignored our rights under the law,” Fusco said, “and this just confirms it.”

As part of the decision, the city must cease and desist from transferring duties of the paid firefighters to other parties. Additionally, the firefighters will receive compensation for lost wages and benefits, with interest, beginning from the time they were laid off until they can be reinstated....

http://www.mpnnow.com/topstories/x560105922/Judge-Canandaigua-firefighters-to-be-reinstated-city-violated-employee-act

[dwcfireman 656]

This is a department from near my hometown. The city of Canandaigua has been dealing with this issue for almost ten years now. Money always seems to be an issue, especially when it comes to funding the fire department. I don't entirely understand the situation now as I haven't lived up there in a few years. I want to say that there's also an engine out of the VA hospital which is located in the city. I may be wrong on that one, but I remember a long time ago the VA provided an engine to the city as a dual response (obviously with a lot of VA hospitals getting their budgets cut, I'm sure it's not there anymore).

[RES20CUE 40]

This is a department from near my hometown. The city of Canandaigua has been dealing with this issue for almost ten years now. Money always seems to be an issue, especially when it comes to funding the fire department. I don't entirely understand the situation now as I haven't lived up there in a few years. I want to say that there's also an engine out of the VA hospital which is located in the city. I may be wrong on that one, but I remember a long time ago the VA provided an engine to the city as a dual response (obviously with a lot of VA hospitals getting their budgets cut, I'm sure it's not there anymore).

The Canandaigua VA Fire Department is still alive and well! I have had many conversations with Chief Spears in reference to their response to the City. They were also added to every response into the City, along with the volunteers (as Barry noted). I'm not going state what we talked about and what happened, but "Mutual Aid" is just that "MUTUAL" if you can't reciprocate, then don't expect the other departments to keep bailing you out!

[BFD1054 1,552]

I know little about the Canandaigua FD, other than the articles i have read and little research i have done. What i do know is that this City is flirting with disaster at the risk of its residents. To go from a mostly career FD to relying on volunteers is a huge step in the wrong direction to say the least. I am sure that the CFD and its Local have strived to be a good, professional FD over the years. Now, to lay-off FF's and go back relying on volunteers to cover alarms is insane.

I am a volunteer myself and in no way am i bashing the volunteers. I am however, concerned with what this City is doing. I understand that this City, as well as many others are having huge budget issues. However, laying-off career FF's and relying on volunteers, especially in the manner that they have done, is NOT the way to fix their issues.

The Canandaigua VA Fire Department is still alive and well! I have had many conversations with Chief Spears in reference to their response to the City. They were also added to every response into the City, along with the volunteers (as Barry noted). I'm not going state what we talked about and what happened, but "Mutual Aid" is just that "MUTUAL" if you can't reciprocate, then don't expect the other departments to keep bailing you out!

Chief, thank you for the info regarding the VAFD in Canandaigua. It is quite troubling to hear that the VAFD has been added to EVERY response into the City. Auto-response to possible/confirmed structure fires i could maybe see, but EVERY alarm?

Perhaps the brothers at the VAFD could/should request to be taken off auto-response? Let the powers that be in the City see how under-staffed and under-prepared the CFD really is. To rely on other FD's for day-to-day calls is absurd. It is not fair to the VAFD and other m/a, its not fair to the CFD volunteers and most importantly is not fair to the Career members of the CFD and those who have been laid off.

I am not aware of the staffing levels of the VAFD in Canandaigua. However, i would assume it is similar to the staffing at the Montrose or Castle Point VAFD's, no? To take the already low staffing level and leave the VA campus on a regular basis to cover a City with such issues as Canandaigua is uncalled for and ridiculous. What happens when the VAFD leaves to cover an alarm in the City and theres an alarm back on campus? Call mutual-aid from another FD, most likely a volunteer one? This is a problem that will just snowball out of control.

Edited October 11, 2010 by BFD1054

[16fire5 693]

It is my understanding that the VA does not have a fire department for their hospitals if the local department can adequately protect them to their standards i.e. staffing and response time. That is why the VA hospitals in cities with fully career departments don't have their own departments. So if what has been stated is correct the VA department is now covering for a department that didn't measure up to their standards and by doing so is leaving the hospital unprotected. Actually we the taxpayers of the US are financing fire protection for Canandaigua because they have decided not to adequately fund the department.

[RES20CUE 40]

The Canandaigua VAFD was added to every alarm, initially when this all broke. I don't believe they are still responding on every alarm. I think this only lasted for a week or two.

As for the VA Fire Departments, you are partially correct. When I first started with the VA back in the 90's, there were 31 VA Fire Departments across the nation, today there is only 20!

If a city, village or other organized FD can meet the federal government's criteria to respond to a fire (4 interior firefighters- certified iaw NFPA 1001, on a class A pumper and have water on the fire within 8 minutes of recieving the alarm and the response must be within 3 1/2 miles of the VA facility), they may be able to take over the suppression part of the FD. This is only if the Medical Center Director requests an evaluation to be conducted for feasibility. There are a couple of VAFD's left inside area's protected by full-career departments.

Edited October 12, 2010 by RES20CUE

[petervonb 9]

It is my understanding that the VA does not have a fire department for their hospitals if the local department can adequately protect them to their standards i.e. staffing and response time. That is why the VA hospitals in cities with fully career departments don't have their own departments. So if what has been stated is correct the VA department is now covering for a department that didn't measure up to their standards and by doing so is leaving the hospital unprotected. Actually we the taxpayers of the US are financing fire protection for Canandaigua because they have decided not to adequately fund the department.

Does the VA make any payments in lieu of taxes to the local jurisdiction (City or Town of Canandaigua)? Does the City or the Town provide any services to the VA? Big, non-local property tax paying institutions can often be a burden on the small communities in which they are located. I don't begin to know how it plays out in Canandaigua, but I wouldn't complain about my federal taxes being used to help the City. Every dollar in Federal taxes we can get back into New York State is a plus. New York gets back from the Federal government only around 80 cents for every dollar its citizens and businesses pay in Federal Taxes. The rest goes to other. "needier" or "poorer" states - including Alaska, where there is no state sales or income tax. <http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/266.html>. Leaving the VA "unprotected" is another matter worthy of more study.

[STAT213 332]

What I find interesting is how the city thinks it's acceptable to let other towns taxpayers pay for their fire protection. If I was a town administrator or selectman in one of thevtowns that suddenly got added to every box, I'd be telling the city to pound it, and keep my trucks and people in the town that funds them.

Not a good situation.

[Bnechis 3,961]

What I find interesting is how the city thinks it's acceptable to let other towns taxpayers pay for their fire protection. If I was a town administrator or selectman in one of thevtowns that suddenly got added to every box, I'd be telling the city to pound it, and keep my trucks and people in the town that funds them.

That or send them a bill for services rendered

[JetPhoto 626]

The FD budget went from $2.4m to $1.8m due to the cuts.

If they have about 24 even with the hopes of 40 volunteer personel then I don't think they need a 1.8 million dollar budget. What are they spending it on?

Sounds like a audit needs to be done on the city books

[Geppetto 31]

Canandaigua fire chief talks: It's time to move on

By Melissa Daniels, staff writer

Messenger Post

Posted Nov 21, 2010

Canandaigua, N.Y. —

After a three-year roller coaster ride, Chief Matt Snyder’s decision to leave the Canandaigua Fire Department boiled down to doing what was best for his family....

http://www.mpnnow.com/ontario_county/x535938051/Canandaigua-fire-chief-talks-Its-time-to-move-on