Crime & Safety

Firefighter Ranks to Increase by Four

A federal grant will pay for the addition of four new Beverly firefighters for the next two years.

Four new firefighters will be added to the ranks of the Beverly Fire Department later this year, with the benefit of everything from helping reduce response time to reducing wear and tear on trucks.

The $556,284 grant was awarded to the department on Friday and announced Tuesday by U.S. Rep. John Tierney. The money comes from the Department of Homeland Security's Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant program.

Beverly Fire Department Deputy Chief Peter O’Connor said it in the largest grant awarded to the department in recent years, exceeding the $356,000 that was awarded for a new fireboat and $282,000 for a new dive truck.

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“This is one of the most important ones to me,” O’Connor said.

The number of firefighter will increase from 60 to 64.

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The grant comes with little additional cost to the city for the first two years. New gear will need to be purchased for the new firefighters and the grant was submitted using a pay from a previous contract, so the difference in pay will be covered by the city.

The number of firefighters (not including lieutenants, captains, deputy chiefs) has dropped from 40 to 36 since 2008, O’Connor said, and that formed the basis of the request for the federal grant.

“Local residents and businesses depend on the reliability of our fire departments and safety response teams. Ensuring that they are fully staffed and prepared is a top priority of mine, and I am pleased that the Beverly Fire Department will be receiving these funds to continue its important work keeping our community safe,” Tierney said as he announced the grant.

The department has 90 days to hire the new firefighters.

The minimum staffing level for each shift will remain at 10 firefighters, O’Connor said, but by adding four new firefighters there will be one more firefighter scheduled for each shift, pushing it to 15 from 14 firefighters. That will mean that the chance that a fourth truck will be staffed will increase for each shift.

Instead of having just Truck 1 manned at the headquarters on Hale Street in the downtown, a higher staffing level could help also staff Car 4 or Engine 1, O’Connor said.

In addition to putting a four truck on the road more often, O’Connor said it could help decrease the wear and tear on Truck 1, a 82,000 pound ladder truck that also carries water and has a pump and responds to 2,200 calls per year, including medical emergencies in the downtown area. Having a smaller truck manned will mean Truck 1 may also be used for fire calls during time of greater staffing.

Having a greater number of trucks manned can also help decrease response time, O’Connor said.

The grant covers the cost of pay and benefits for the four new firefighters for two years, and a waiver can be granted if one of the new hires is a veterans so that a third year could be funded, O’Connor said.

After that, “it’s something we’ll have to look at,” O’Connor said. The annual cost of the new firefighters will be about $275,000.

“Hopefully at the end of the two years we will find a way to keep the guys on,” O’Connor said.


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