Groton Fire Department Shares Results of Staffing Study

GROTON — Fire Chief Arthur Cheeks shares that the Groton Fire Department recently participated in a staffing study and has received the results. 

Groton Fire partnered with the highly respected John Parow Consulting & Associates to conduct a staffing study to collect vital data on the department and its operations. 

Groton Fire Department’s current staffing model can support one complete EMS response and a limited initial fire response and does not meet the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and OSHA requirements of 2-in, 2-out. The rule generally requires at least two firefighters to enter the hazardous area together while maintaining visual, voice, or direct contact.

At least two additional firefighters must remain outside the hazardous area to monitor conditions, support incident command, and be available to assist with rescue if needed. One of the outside firefighters may perform another role, such as incident commander, when conditions and staffing allow.

Through a months-long study, including meetings with the department and the town administration, site visits, and surveys, the study found that Groton Fire’s current staffing model no longer meets the town’s emergency service demand.

The department is currently below the national staffing standards. This is a result of rising call volume, more frequent overlapping incidents, longer ambulance commitments, declining paid on-call availability, and less predictable mutual aid calls. 

Groton’s size and development pattern creates a broad response area with varying travel distances between neighborhoods, stations, schools, senior housing, commercial areas, conservation land, and rural road networks. 

While the department is committed to recruitment, as a result of this report, the department has identified a greater need to recruit and retain new members for Groton Fire. The department will be seeking additional funding for the next fiscal to hire more full-time members and meet the NFPA operational staffing standards.

The addition of more full-time firefighters will allow the department to maintain and exceed community needs that are continuously growing, to reduce overtime costs and limit burnout, assist neighboring departments with mutual aid response, adhere to the operational 2-in, 2-out rule, and more. 

To view the full staffing report, click here. 

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