Fire chief urges Rowley to vote Yes on Question #1

By Lynne Hendricks
Correspondent

May 08, 2008 03:31 am

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ROWLEY — Fire Chief James Broderick is urging residents to vote yes on Question 1 on the ballot Tuesday, authorizing the town to seek a five-year debt exclusion override allowing for the purchase of a new 1,500-gallon-per-minute pumper truck.

The town needs one, Broderick said, and has been operating below recommended guidelines since 2005, when Engine 3 was forced out of commission due to irreparable corrosion.

"The truck we took out of service was corroded on the frame to the point where it was going to break in half," Broderick said. "We've been trying to get a new truck ever since."

Broderick places the cost of the new truck at around 11 cents per day ($50 a year) for five years, based on a house value of $450,000.

A similar override attempt was sought by the department in 2006, but being one in a field of seven other override questions, it was defeated along with the others by a margin of 80 votes.

"Last year selectmen chose not to put it on the ballot," said Broderick. "It was to cut down on the amount of override questions, with the hope this year they'd be in a better position to fund a replacement. That wasn't the case, but we did have a compelling enough argument."

Broderick said Rowley isn't meeting certain department criteria laid out by the Insurance Services Organization (ISO), the largest issue having to do with the lack of pumped "water" power. Fire departments should have the ability to pump 3,500 gallons per minute at a house fire, Broderick said, and Rowley can only muster 3,000 at the moment.

ISO is responsible for rating fire departments across the United States based on flow capacity and other criteria, and issues ratings once every 10 years. The town took a hit on insurance because it has a reserve truck in use.

Even worse, he says, "If one of our reserve trucks breaks down we don't have something to take its place."

The new truck being considered for purchase is brand-new, and would help provide some stability in Rowley's aging fleet. Pumper Engine 4 was built in 1987, and despite some repairs and upgrades made to the engine last year to get a few more years out of it, the engine has reached the end of its life expectancy.

"That truck should be retired completely, according to the National Fire Protection Association," says Broderick, "or at least be put into reserve status."