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STAMFORD, Conn. When a Newfield Avenue home when up in flames Saturday, Stamford Fire & Rescue responded with 32 firefighters but only three Springdale volunteers showed up, said a statement from the firefighters' union.
The low volunteer unit response worries union head Brendan Keatley, especially when he thinks of the Mayors Fire Service Plan. But on Monday, Mayor Michael Pavia pushed for the plan to be approved because of the response to Saturdays fire.
This is not a knock on the volunteers; a lot responded, Keatley said, describing the fire as an example of how the current system works.
The mayors plan calls for two departments to cover the city, Stamford Fire & Rescue would be responsible for downtown, and the Stamford Volunteer Fire Department would cover the rest. The volunteer department would have two or three paid firefighters in each house at all times to work alongside the volunteers.
Two guys on a fire are not going to do anything, said Keatley, president of the Stamford Professional Fire Fighters Association.
Volunteer firefighter Matthew Maounis is not worried about being overwhelmed by a fire. Most calls in the volunteer district are not structure fires and dont require more than several firefighters, said Maounis, assistant chief of the Turn of River Volunteer Department.
More volunteers were stationed at the Long Ridge and Turn of River fire houses Saturday, prepared to respond if a second call had come in, he said. Maounis also said that under the mutual aid agreement between Stamford and other nearby towns, fire departments travel to other districts to help one another.
Stamfords mayor agreed, saying there are more benefits to the plan such as having more paid firefighters on duty at all times and forming partnerships with the volunteers. To not look at any of that is not doing the plan justice, Pavia said.
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