Greenwood voters asked to fund firefighters

GREENWOOD — Paid firefighters during daytime hours will become a reality in the Greenwood-Woodstock area, if Greenwood voters join Woodstock in funding the effort.

A vote at the Greenwood town meeting in May will determine whether an enhanced Mutual Aid agreement between Greenwood and Woodstock will take effect on July 1, 2011

The agreement has been worked out between Chiefs Al Curtis and Geff Inman over the past year. It has been discussed at numerous selectmen's meetings in both towns.

"The volunteers of the Woodstock and Greenwood Fire Departments are dedicated to serving our communities, maintaining safety standards, and responding immediately to all emergencies," Inman wrote in a letter that was published in the Town Report. "We have, however identified a serious problem that has been magnified by our poor economy, lack of local jobs, and volunteers having to work outside the area: we cannot provide well trained, responsive fire fighters during the normal work week."

On March 28 voters approved adding $15,000 to cover Woodstock's share; now it is up to Greenwood.

The money will be used to pay firefighters to be at each town's fire stations, from 8 to 5 on alternating days. Each town will pay their own firemen. For Woodstock the rate will be $11 per hour with no benefits.

At the Woodstock Town Meeting, Chief Inman told the audience that "Four people will show up if you call; two of our guys and two from Pace."

Woodstock and Greenwood have a long history of cooperative fire fighting. According to Inman"We have a good working relationship and have trained quite a bit with them."

Although the agreement would increase the fire departments' budgets for two towns, the total monies spent on both departments would not pay for two full time fire fighters in a large municipality.

Inman has repeatedly stated that the on-duty fire fighters would be busy when not responding to a call. There are constant maintenance and certification requirements to be done, as well as compliance with a never-ending stream of mandates from the state and federal government.

Inman also said that the biggest single thing Woodstock residents can do to help their fire department is "to make sure all home smoke detectors are working." If this is a problem, "call the town office and we will get back to you: if you need a detector or a battery, we will give you one."