Stamford Volunteer Fire Departments Sue to Challenge Consolidation
Three volunteer fire departments in Stamford, Connecticut have filed suit to challenge the city’s efforts to consolidate them into a single, unified fire department that includes the city’s career firefighters.
The three departments, Turn of River, Long Ridge and Springdale Volunteer Fire Departments, are seeking to challenge the validity of recent charter changes adopted last November by the voters. The suit was filed last month in Superior Court.
Attorney Mark Kovack, who represents the three plaintiff departments, was quoted by the Stamford Advocate as saying “We do have bona fide, serious legal reservations as to whether the changes are constitutional… If the changes, all or some or part, are found to be unlawful … then we would ask the court to declare those particular amendments legally null and void.”
Two other volunteer fire departments in Stamford, Belltown and Glenbrook VFDs, opted not to join the suit.
Egos continue to get in the way of service.
>The administrative restructuring violates
>state laws preventing municipal fire
>departments from superseding volunteer fire
>companies
This is true…with an enormous caveat.
The sole obligation, under state law, any municipality has towards fire protection is to provide Worker’s Compensation insurance to volunteer firefighters.
You don’t have to dispatch them.
You don’t have to let them use public property (stations, apparatus, small equipment).
You don’t have to provide any money.
Good luck continuing to operate — especially in a situation like Stamford where every single volunteer company was hiring full time staff in order to cover calls. Your not going to have chicken barbecues to cover the costs of operating a modern fire company.