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<p>Pierson and Enos paid a call to the Cedarville Steering Committee Wednesday night, apprising committee members of recent departmental policy changes made in response to public outcry.</p>
<p>Last month, Pierson and Enos got an earful from committee members, firefighter union leaders and residents who said leaving stations unmanned for officers’ meetings is not acceptable since it leaves parts of town without adequate fire coverage. Dissenters concurred with Pierson that firefighting training is essential, but trainers should visit stations individually so firefighters don’t have to leave their posts. </p>
<p>Many South Plymouth residents and steering committee members have been up in arms since they learned that three fire stations were left unmanned while firefighters attended training at the Pinehills, Oct. 24. Firefighters who cover the Manomet, Bourne Road and Cedarville stations had to leave their posts for this training. </p>
<p>Fire broke out in South Plymouth while this was underway, and it took firefighters 10 minutes to respond to the fire, which completely destroyed Robert and Leah Rose’s home. Pierson said firefighters would have arrived sooner if those firefighters who cover the Bourne Road and Cedarville fire stations had been in quarters at the time. </p>
<p>But Pierson said it was absolutely necessary to get firefighters up to speed on new National Heart Association CPR training guidelines as quickly as possible. That’s why the training was scheduled in a large group. And, Enos said, a quicker arrival time would not, in this case, have made a difference, since the house was fully involved in fire within two minutes.</p>
<p>Last month, Pierson told committee members that leaving stations unmanned for hours at a time during training and officer’s meeting is a common occurrence. He said a study stressed the need for better communication between firefighters and stepped up training, among other things. At the December meeting, he said he couldn’t guarantee the practice of taking firefighters out of quarters for training and meetings would stop. He stressed that there are simply times when doing this is absolutely necessary.</p>
<p>That wasn’t acceptable to several committee members and residents who said the practice puts South Plymouth at risk. </p>
<p>Firefighters Local #1768 President Shawn Harmon has spoken out against the department’s policy of leaving stations unmanned. The union says the chief is mismanaging the department and ought to be fired due, in part, to this unsafe practice.</p>
<p>But Enos said this policy has been altered, so that when the need arises to pull firefighters from three stations for training, the department will “backfill” the third station with a detail crew of firefighters working overtime. Enos said newly promoted battalion chiefs will be visiting individual stations to disseminate information, eliminating the need for multiple stations to attend officers’ meetings. In addition, he said battalion chiefs will strategically schedule training to ensure the town has good fire coverage. </p>
<p>For instance, if pulling firefighters from the south stations is necessary for ice rescue training, it may be held at a southern pond, mitigating increased response times. In short, the southerly positioned firefighters will be training in the south, making it easier for them to respond should they be called to a fire in that region during training. </p>
<p>Enos stressed that every effort will be made to spread the fire coverage as evenly through town as possible during training.</p>
<p>The fire department has recently replaced seven retirees and hired eight firefighters for new positions approved by Town Meeting. The new hires have allowed the department to increase the number of firefighters at four of the seven stations, Enos said. The Bourne Road, Pinehills, Manomet and West Plymouth stations have all gone from three firefighters per shift to four per shift, he added. </p>
<p>This increase in manpower will boost the department’s ability to respond quickly, he said.</p>
<p>Enos referenced the two-in-two-out rule, which requires that two firefighters be stationed outside a structure on fire for two others to be able to enter the building. Firefighters are not supposed to enter a building involved in fire unless there are four present at the scene - two to enter the structure and two to fight the fire from the outside. The rule is a safety precaution for the firefighters, allowing for two firefighters outside a structure to assist the two inside if anything goes haywire.</p></body>
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