Department releases internal study, works to make improvements
“We want to figure out what our strengths and weaknesses are, and move forward as a department.” Greenwich Fire Chief Joseph McHugh
GREENWICH — With an internal strategic review of the Greenwich Fire Department now completed, Fire Chief Joseph McHugh said the department is already working to implement its recommendations.
“We want to figure out what our strengths and weaknesses are, and move forward as a department,” McHugh said as he presented the findings to the Board of Selectmen at its meeting Thursday.
The review called for clear definitions on the
vision and mission of the department, which is staffed by career firefighters and volunteer members, he said.
The study, which began in March, found the department’s strengths are in managing resources, condition of equipment, communication between the command staff and firefighters as well as use of technology. However, it identified several weaknesses, including training, allocation of personnel, recruitment and retention, community programs and outreach, and morale of members.
“Some of this is stuff we’re working on already,” McHugh told the selectmen.
The outside stakeholders also identified training and a lack of community programs as areas of concern along with response time, allocation of staff to the scene, location of fire stations and physical fitness of department members.
According to McHugh, the study is meant to set priorities through 2026, when another internal study will be done.
The study involved surveys and in-person interviews of fire department members as well as outside stakeholders from the Board of Estimate and Taxation, Representative Town Meeting and Board of Selectmen.
As a result, McHugh said the review allowed them to maintain a “core vision” of versatility, integrity, sincerity, inclusion, optimism and nobility.
“Those are all very important qualities for a good fire department,” he said.
It sets several strategic goals: develop and improve relationships between town administration, career staff and volunteers; conduct more community outreach and marketing; evaluate operations “to maximize efficiencies and unit utilization;” and develop an overall training program that “ensures equal and collaborative training” for career and volunteer personnel.
The fire department conducted the internal study, and it is not related to the Matrix Consulting Group study that was concluded last year to study fire department response time, station location, fire coverage and other areas in the department.
The were met with strong approval by First Selectman Fred Camillo, who said, “You’re making a really good department into a really great one.”
They discussed prioritizing community engagement, and McHugh said the fire department would look at starting a program modeled on the Citizen’s Police Academy run by the Greenwich Police Department runs. It allows residents to receive some police training and take part in experiences designed to better understand the job of policing.
“We want to get the community more involved in the fire department,” McHugh said. “We don’t feel as a department we get out there enough. People need to see what we do and the great things the men and women of this department are doing.”
Camillo supported that idea and asked McHugh whether there was anything the town administration could do to improve the fire department’s morale.
The review came at a time when the fire department’s command structure is in transition. McHugh was hired last summer, and Assistant Chief Brian Koczak was promoted to his new position in October. The GFD will hire a new assistant chief to focus on administrative matters while Koczak will focus on department operations.
The Board of Estimate and Taxation approved the funding for the new assistant fire chief position, but it did not approve a plan put forward by McHugh and Koczak as well as the town’s volunteer fire chiefs to get the new position and retain a volunteer recruitment and retention officer. That position is set to be phased out over the first months of the fiscal year, despite support from the career and volunteer chiefs.
There was no discussion about that position during Thursday’s Board of Selectmen meeting. But McHugh said relations between the career and volunteer personnel are improving and stressed the importance of the volunteers, the career firefighters and town administration “being on the same page.”
Camillo asked about the possible expansion of the Round Hill Volunteer Fire Company’s building to allow career personnel to be stationed there with the volunteers. That was listed in the Matrix study as a possible way to address fire coverage shortages in Northwest Greenwich, but nothing official has been announced.
McHugh said he and Koczak met recently with Northwest Greenwich residents as well as the RTM’s District 10 members on the issue.
“We are hoping to survey the Round Hill fire house very soon and start moving this forward,” McHugh said. “Response in the Northwest is a very big concern for a lot of residents up there. I see their concern and understand it.”