Amherst Fire Department. with the help of APD, knocked down a fire at 106 Belchertown Road, a three story, two family house. Everyone managed to get out safely.
The 911 call for smoke in the building came in around 8:15 PM and the first arriving police officer reported fire in the upper floor.
AFD Engine 3, (UMass) Student Call Force
Firefighters used an interior attack and had the flames put down in about a half-hour. Fortunately public safety staffing levels were higher than normal in preparation for Blarney Blowout.
Busy RT9 was closed for a half mile on either side of the location to allow firefighters to do their work. The road was still closed at 9:30 PM, waiting for the DPW to come sand the ice created by water run off.
AFD Chief Tim Nelson (center) Chaplain Bruce Arbour (left) Assistant Chief Stromgren (right)
Amherst Fire Department had to cancel an ice rescue drill this morning, not because it was a few degrees below zero -- although certainly a byproduct of the reason: the ice was too thick.
Can always use it for a skating rink
Half the department had mobilized at Puffer's Pond this morning -- Engine 3, Engine 4, Rescue 1 staffed by Call and Student Force, who huddled on the beach awaiting the breakthrough in ice that never came.
Gave up after sawing down 24"
Tomorrow's ice cold exercise is cancelled as well.
Meanwhile the ice should be just fine for today's Business Improvement District Ice Skating Party at Kendrick Park from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm. I saw lots of firewood stacked by the rink.
Fire hydrant corner of Amity and South Prospect Street (Jones Library in background)
11 South Prospect Street
A couple of things that you certainly can't always count on worked to our advantage with the late night fire at 11 South Prospect Street: first and foremost all 8 full-time professional firefighters were available to respond, although a few were enroute to a (false) box alarm on Pelham Road.
Had two ambulances been on the road, which is all too common, that would have reduced by half the number of fire fighters available to respond. And with a fire such as that the first few minutes are vitally important.
Almost equally important the closest fire hydrant (on the corner of Amity and South Prospect Street) was totally cleared of snow and the extreme cold had not prevented it from functioning normally.
Fire hydrant South Prospect Street: not overly accessible
The other nearby fire hydrant less than 50 yards south of the fire scene, which looks to be Amherst College responsibility, would certainly have been more problematic.
Chief Nelson and Assistant Chief McKay demo new breathing apparatus
The discussion concerning the new $12 million South Fire Station was easily ten times better than in previous years. Rather than dismissing it within a minute or two the Joint Capital Planning Committee actually spent a good 15 minutes discussing the l-o-n-g overdue public safety project.
Chief Nelson told the committee that they have come a long way trying to make this new station happen. The real issue at the moment is land. Once a site is chosen, then money will need to be appropriated for a design phase ($1 million or more) which will give a clearer picture of what the entire project will cost.
The $12 million figure has been used as a "placeholder" for a few years now but may not be accurate. Finance Director Sandy Pooler said it will almost certainly come down to a "Proposition 2.5 debt exclusion" to finance construction.
Pooler went on to say Town Manager Musante "Is committed to moving forward. We know it's an important project and it's very high on our list of things to get done."
Of course that list could also include other major building projects on the immediate horizon, including the Jones Library expansion, Wildwood Elementary School replacement and a new DPW building.
Stair chair makes it easier and safer to transport patients down stairs
The good thing about AFD coming to the JCPC with a total request next fiscal year of $12,336,790 is the rest of the other important items on the list -- tallying up to a half-million or so -- is a lot easier to swallow.
During a discussion of the $18,000 for an (Assistant Chief) "staff vehicle" the inevitable question about a hybrid came up. Chief Nelson pointed out that he and his two Assistant Chiefs are, "Working chiefs, not administrative chiefs. We are out on the road day and night and respond to scenes with all sorts of equipment."
Chief Nelson demonstrates "scoop stretcher"
Total requests for everything besides the new Fire Station came to $543,790 with $77,000 of that coming from the Ambulance Fund (which generates between $2 and $2.5 million annually.
All AFD professional firefighters do both EMS and fire duty
Many years ago, worried that bureaucrats would fail to reinvest in expensive capital items required to make the operation work, the town set up the "Ambulance Fund" to stash boatloads of money taken in by the vital service.
So it's not really an "Enterprise Fund" -- a separate fund set up as pretty much a stand-alone business, which is supposed to show all its expenses and set user fees accordingly so it at least breaks even.
Currently the town has four Enterprise Funds: Water, Sewer, Solid Waste, and Transportation (parking meters and Boltwood Garage).
The Cherry Hill Golf Course was an Enterprise Fund for 20 years but could never break even, so town officials gave up. Town Meeting dissolved it as an Enterprise Fund a few years ago, thus wiping away a residual debt of close to $1 million owed the General Fund.
The town has five ambulances, each costing about $250,000, but
usually does not have the staff on duty to operate them all, except
for weekends when UMass is in session.
Called "impact shifts"
(thirsty-Thursday night until early Sunday morning) UMass pays $40,000
per semester to bring in 4 extra firefighters so that all five ambulances
can be operational. Even then there are times AFD has to rely on mutual aid for an out-of-town ambulance to provide transport to a hospital.
The Ambulance Fund takes in over $2 million annually, which is about half AFD's total operating budget. But, like an Enterprise Fund, any expenditures from the Ambulance Fund must be approved by Town Meeting.
While I'm normally not a fan of using money set aside for capital items to fund labor intensive operating budgets, that bean-counter rationality is trumped by my fear of innocent civilians burning to death.
The Ambulance Fund routinely shows an annual surplus of $200,000 -- more than enough to hire two additional Firefighters.
#####
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2015 12:38 PM
Subject: Ambulance Revenues
Hi Larry,
In response to your request for the Ambulance fund balance to date, I wanted to explain in detail on how these funds are utilized. The ambulance fund is a Receipt Reserved for Appropriation account, this means we can only spend the funds with a Town Meeting vote, it is not a revolving fund.
Each year Town Meeting votes money to support the Public Safety (EMT) operating budget and EMS capital such as ambulances, stretchers etc. In the past 5 years we have generated approximately $2.3 to $2.6 million a year and have appropriated close to that amount to support those budgets.
Each year we must collect enough in the Ambulance Fund to cover the appropriation for the following year’s budget.
As you can see below our current unappropriated balance is $1,889,003 and the current FY16 budget is projected to use $2.5 million for operations, meaning that we still need to collect $626,288 to cover the FY16 budget, plus there will be some capital (to be determined).
By June 30th we will need to have collected enough revenue to support the subsequent year’s budget and capital. The Ambulance Fund ended FY14 with a balance of $220,627.
Hopefully this is clear, but if you have any questions let me know.
· The chart below is straight forward, the ending Fund Balance (FB) for 2014 (3,060,060) · The amount voted to support the 2015 budget with the breakdown to the side (2,839,433) this includes capital for FY15 · The beginning unappropriated FB for 2015(220,627), and the revenues collected to date (1,668,376) Total (1,889,003) is the BALANCE · The amount projected to be used for the 2016 budget is (2,515,292),this is the regular operation budget portion there is no capital amount projected yet as the JCPC is in process now to determine this
Sonia Aldrich, Comptroller
From: Larry Kelley [mailto:amherstac@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2015 1:55 PM
To: Aldrich, Sonia Subject: Re: Ambulance Revenues
Hey Sonia,
So the Ambulance Fund averages about $200,000 per month (assuming total annual revenues of say $2.4 million) then if that holds up for Feb, March, April, May and June it will take in $1 million to be used to cover the $626,288 required for FY16 thus leaving a residual balance of around $373,000 and change?
To: Larry Kelley
Sent: Thu, Feb 5, 2015 2:04 pm
Subject: RE: Ambulance Revenues
Yes, however there will be capital outlay so more likely $100-200K and change and the cycle repeats.
Sonia Aldrich, Comptroller
One of the downsides of the tide turning towards civility in the war on rowdyism -- albeit a minor one -- is the town treasury is taking a hit with those $300 noise/nuisance tickets not being issued.
Last year at this time (halfway through the budget) Amherst collected $111,793 in town bylaw fines while this year it's down 37% to $69,806.
Of course neighbors who value their sleep or the look of their yards on weekend mornings are not going to mind a bit -- especially since it's a pubic safety issue.
The Public Safety aspect (police, fire, dispatch, animal welfare) of town government is the largest segment of the town's operating budget (46%), but the lion's share is split almost evenly between Amherst Police Department at $4,767,221 proposed for FY16, and $4,466,729 for Amherst Fire Department.
So the $200,000 or so in annual fines collected is a drop in the bucket compared to APD's overall budget. The Town Manager in his proposed FY16 budget is, finally, adding two police officers to bolster their enemic ranks.
Amherst Fire Department, on the other hand, will not see any additional staffing even though their calls have been rising annually at a rate greater than inflation.
Interestingly 75% of AFD runs are for Emergency Medical Services, as all personnel are crossed trained to either run into burning buildings or stabilize and transport sick/injured patients.
Unlike fire calls, the department does collect fees for ambulance services which is the vast majority of what they do. The last few years that has amounted to over $2 million dollars annually, enough to fund half their overall budget (although Town Meeting, NOT AFD, controls how that money is spent).
The town has 5 ambulances but usually cannot staff them all
Two years ago in his FY14 budget the Town Manager predicted $2,195,723 in Ambulance Fund revenues, but due to a typically all-too-busy year the fund took in $2,533,728, or $338,000 in excess revenues.
As I mentioned a few days ago, unlike UMass/Amherst or Amherst College, Hampshire (our little "alternative" college in South Amherst) pays nothing for emergency services provided by Amherst Fire Department even though it is the third largest property owner in town.
Click to enlarge
Hampshire College also has the larges number of "still alarms" which are automated fire alarms typically answered by at least one, and sometimes two, fire engines. These responses are not paid for by insurance as the ambulance runs are.
AFD raw number breakdown of 5,914 total responses (2nd highest in history)
In 2014 AFD had 188 total responses to Hampshire College with 106 -- 56% of them -- for false fire alarms, usually "cooking smoke."
In 2014 AFD had 1127 total responses to UMass/Amherst with 208 -- 18.5% of them -- for false fire alarms.
In 2014 AFD had 251 total responses to Amherst College with 55 -- 22% of them -- for false fire alarms.
In 2014 AFD had 5914 total responses within the five communities they serve (Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, Shutesbury, Hadley) with 1,436 of them for fire related emergencies, or 24%. So the response profile of both UMass (18.5%) and Amherst College (22%) for medical vs fire comes in around average.
Unlike Hampshire College.
Hampshire College from on high
If Hampshire simply paid the town the same amount annually as Amherst College ($90,000) we could afford to add two firefighters to bolster our dangerously low staffing levels.
Last year AFD had to rely on out-of-town "mutual aid" ambulances 44 times. That too is insurance money that could have gone to increase staff, thus providing better, faster service to all.
Hey Hampshire: time to pony up! (And you may want to start teaching students how to cook.)
Undoubtedly the presence of Amherst College (our #1 land owner), Hampshire College (#3 landowner) and UMass/Amherst (#2 landowner) provide the #1 opportunity for employment in town while also providing boatloads of "college aged youth" for our anemic business sector.
But do these tax-exempt institutions really pay their fair share, especially considering property taxes are the #1 revenue source for municipal services?
AFD Engine 1 at Amherst College Crossett Christmas disturbance 12/7/14
A look at the cold hard facts reveals a simple answer: Hell no!
In his budget presented yesterday to the Select Board and Finance Committee (and almost certainly to be passed this spring by Amherst Town Meeting) Town Manager John Musante allocates to the Amherst Fire Department $4,466,729.
2014 was busiest year in history for AFD medical runs (2nd busiest overall)
In 2014 AFD had their second busiest year in history with a total of 5,914 runs with 1,566 of those going to our three institutes of higher education, or 26.5%, which works out to $1,182,789 worth.
UMass paid us $350,000 for AFD protection via a "5 Year Strategic Agreement" (that is now 2.5 years past due for renewal) and Amherst College paid $90,000. Hampshire College paid zero.
So total intake to the town coffers is $440,000 on a fair share of $1.2 million! All these monies simply go into the town's General Fund, not directly to AFD.
Based on service provided, UMass (19% of AFD runs) should have paid us $848,678; Amherst College (4.25% of AFD runs) should have paid $189,835; Hampshire College (3.18% of runs) $142,041.
Amherst College is our #1 landowner and #1 taxpayer because of all the houses they own and rent to professors, and some commercial property (Amherst Golf Course and Lord Jeff Inn).
Last year Amherst College paid around $490,000. Hampshire College is our #3 largest landowner, but only paid $67,000 in property taxes on all their holdings last year.
AFD on scene Hampshire College 12/9/14 for minor fire
Amherst College donated $90,000 to the town last year for AFD protection while Hampshire College -- one of the most expensive liberal arts colleges in America -- donated zero.
If the Town Manager could get our Colleges and University to pay their fair share for vital services, we could easily add a few firefighters to that overburdened public safety department.
And have money left over for a downpayment on the forever talked about, new South Amherst Fire Station.
Town Manager Musante (center) presented his $21.6 million budget in 40 minutes
Unlike the Amherst public schools the town side of the budget is easily living within its means.
The FY16 budget (starts July 1st) presented today by Town Manager John Musante to the Select Board and Finance Committee is a 2.5% increase over the current year, and even allows for an increase in badly needed police personnel by two officers.
Although APD will still be down three sworn positions from where they were a decade ago, and two grant funded positions dried up over the past few months.
Musante on adding police
Of course this budget falls terribly short by not also increasing Fire Department personnel, the other -- equally important -- half of Public Safety.
Other staff additions includes an Economic Development Director, who presumably will work hand in hand with the Chamber of Commerce and Business Improvement District to increase business activity in a town still suffering from an anti-business reputation.
The DPW department will also get an "Administrative Analyst Position" to provide better customer service by being proactive with information. Seems any time the DPW does a major road project, like the recent Pine Street reconstruction, tempers flare over the pace of the project.
Interestingly the Town Manager did not follow up on his memo to the Select Board last summer suggesting it was time to relook at leasing out the Cherry Hill Golf Course, which annually costs as much as hiring two new firefighters.
The public schools make up more than a majority of the overall Amherst budget and at the moment they are looking at almost a $1 million in red ink, possibly requiring the axing of 17 employees.
The schools are separate from the town budget presented today although both require Town Meeting approval in the spring. The only direct crossover is the one-third funding the town does provide for Amherst Together
The Select Board will now work with the Town Manager's budget (hopefully finding a way to add a couple of firefighters) and the Amherst and Regional School Committees will work with School Superintendent Maria Geryk once her sure-to-be-controversial budget is finally presented later next month.
AFD responded to a chicken coop fire this afternoon up a very steep incline on Station Road, bordering on the town of Belchertown.
Originally the box alarm indicated the structure fully engulfed and threatening the nearly residence, but Chief Nelson arrived first on scene to report that it was relatively a safe 30 or 40 feet away.
Chief is not above helping with hose
Just as the hoses were being charged, another fire alarm came in from Amherst College and engaged Engines 2 and 4. Thus at that moment four engines were engaged with pretty much the entire on duty staffing.
Engine 1 had primary
Engine 3 Student Call Force provided back up further down the hill
Once the water flowed the fire was quickly snuffed out
Once again the important issues I plan to cover with gusto in the New Year, even as it becomes an old year, will come as no surprise to my regular readers. And once again we have a tie for #1 -- both of them related to public safety:
New South Amherst Fire Station: Short of immolating myself on the town common I plan to do everything possible to ensure the town, finally, gets off its lazy bureaucratic ass and breaks ground on the badly needed new fire station.
Yes, maybe my major structure fire in South Amherst 27 years ago unduly influences my preoccupation with fire safety.
But I'm sure that's the same for anyone who has dealt with The Beast up close, smelled its stench, choked on acrid black smoke, and listened helplessly to the demented crackle as your home was rapidly being consumed.
The needs of a 21st century fire department have outgrown the iconic 85 year old Central Fire Station. Neither of the ladder trucks will even fit into the building and the electrical systems and HVAC were state of the art back when our troops were fighting in South East Asia.
The first "study" identifying the need for a new station was issued back when President Dwight D. Eisenhower occupied the White House, while the most recent study, issued in 2006, collects dust in historic Town Hall (renovated in 1997 at a cost of $3.2 million).
Amherst DPW, 586 South Pleasant Street
A Request For Proposals is almost ready to hire a consultant to start the process of building new DPW home, the Jones Library is on their way to a $10 million renovation/expansion project, and Town Meeting recently approved a $1 million study of Wildwood Elementary School for a mega-expensive school building project that looms in the near future.
Last year's AFD capital request (ignored by town officials) included $8 million one year and $4 million the next for new South Fire Station
Maybe I'll print bumper stickers: "Fire Safety Comes 1st, As Should a New South Fire Station!"
And of course a new building or new equipment is pretty useless unless you have an adequate number of staff to operate it. Last year AFD Dispatch had to issue public pleas over the radio 200 times for off-duty personnel to report in for "station coverage".
Meaning not enough on-duty firefighters were available to do their job of protecting the public. What if The Beast came calling again in deep South Amherst at any of those precise vulnerable moments?
DHG 11/13/87 back when they had the staff to cover breaking news on page 1
The Town Manager seems to (sort of) understand the serious issue of low staffing at APD, pointing out to the Select Board last year how police staffing has decreased 10% since 2007 while UMass/Amherst has expanded student population 16% during that same time frame.
But he didn't let that motivate him enough to include any extra police (or firefighter) staffing in his budget that year. On January 15th Town Manager Musante will present his 2016 budget to his bosses the 5-member Amherst Select Board (and the Finance Committee).
Let's hope this time his $70+ million budget includes increased public safety staffing for both police and fire.
And let's hope while we're waiting, no one dies a preventable death.
Last night APD called in "mutual aid" from UMass PD and Hadley PD K9 unit to assist bagging a perp for Breaking & Entering at at Lincoln Avenue house (which was hit by a B & E two nights ago).
AFD Engine 2 on scene UMass Berkshire Dining Commons 12/11/14
My regular readers will find this a "dog bites man" story, or as we brazen Catholic kids used to say growing up, "no shit Sherlock": Amherst Fire Department had its second busiest year on record (but busiest for medical calls) with a total of 5,914 calls, an increase of 3.94% over last year's busy tally of 5,690.
First number is fire calls, second number medicals calls, third number is total
With no staff increase of course.
In fact there has not been a staff increase since 2005 when the town received a $500,000 federal SAFER grantto hire five additional firefighters.
But even with those additional five our current 1.16 ratio of firefighters per 1,000 residents is well below what the International City Managers Association considers a minimum threshold for safety of 1.65 firefighters per 1,000.
Yes the minimum on-duty shift increased to 8 from 7 (the first increase since the 1970s), and UMass kicked in $80,000 in 2014 to fund the "impact shift" where an extra four firefighters geared up for Thursday night through early Sunday morning -- the bewitching hours for the alcohol fueled zombie herds.
Tom Valle, Secretary Amherst Firefighters Local 1764
But even then (with as many as 13 on duty) there were times last fall -- especially in September -- when we had to rely on "mutual aid" ambulances from surrounding towns for medical emergencies because all of our staff were tied up dealing with preventable substance abuse cases.
Northampton FD responding to Amherst College via mutual aid for intoxicated student, as all five AFD ambulances are now occupied.
In all last year there were 46 occasions when a medical emergency had to
be handled by an out-of-town ambulance, thus requiring precious extra
time for a patient to be safely delivered to a hospital.
Something you
probably don't think about ... until it's your spouse, or child.
Chief Nelson on scene 1100 South East Street 6:10 PM
Ladder 1, Engine 1 on scene 1100 South East Street
For the second time in less than a month Amherst Fire Department scrambled to a box alarm after smoke was reported in a dwelling. This time it was 1100 South East Street, the former home of former long-time Town Manager Allen Torrey.
AFD Chief Nelson confirms there were no injuries to first responders or residents of the home, although an ambulance was called about an hour after the fire was first reported just as a precautionary evaluation of the tenants for carbon monoxide.
Chief Nelson also confirms that after a routine investigation by his Fire Investigation Unit (the Chief does not like the term "Arson Squad" because "It makes the most innocuous seem sinister") the fire was NOT considered suspicious.
Apparently a stuffed chair had smouldered for a long period of time (with the HVAC system sending the carbon monoxide and soot throughout the house) but never actually burst into flame.
Engine 2 (the quint) on scene 222 Belchertown Road 11/29/14
The other structure fire AFD handled a little over two weeks ago at 222 Belchertown Road was far more sinister.
Mark Andre, 54, will remain incarcerated until 1/2/15 "dangerousness hearing"
In Eastern Hampshire District Court yesterday before Judge Shea, Mark Andre was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation and his arson case was continued until January 2, 2015.
The state will argue for a Chapter 58A too-dangerous-to-be-out-on-bail decree at that hearing.
Just don't use the other hand to smoke a cigarette
Massachusetts motorists by the millions will want to applaud the Board of Fire Prevention Regulators come January 1st as multi-tasking while filling up at your local self-serve gas station will get a whole lot more comfortable.
For the first time in a generation, drivers will be allowed to use hold open clips so you don't have to keep one hand on the squeeze handle to keep the gas flowing.
Self-serve gas stations were also banned in Massachusetts until the mid-1970s and the ban on hold open clips coincided with the relaxing of regulations allowing such stations.
So for some of us, this could be our first time using them. Hence this instructional video:
I asked AFD Assistant Chief Lindsay Stromgren if he had any concerns about this new development and he said he brought it up at a recent Hampshire County Chiefs meeting and nobody seemed alarmed.
Although he was quick to add, "But I'm sure we'll see some unique cases in the next year or so."
The still alarm -- automatic response due to tripped smoke detectors -- first came in around 10:30 PM last night but then within minutes became a box alarm as UMass first responders reported "smoke in the building."
AFD Engine 2 (the quint) gets in close to Berkshire Dining Commons
The Quint has a 75' aerial ladder
The tone sent out to all on and off duty firefighters brings a massive response to the UMass Berkshire Dining Commons, in this case Engine 1, Engine 2, Engine 3, Ladder 1, an ambulance, AFD Chief Nelson and assistant Chief Stromgren.
Off duty firefighters and Call Force are automatically mobilized
AFD Ladder 1 with a 102' aerial platform standing by
Two firefighters went up on the roof and headed down into the building searching for the source of the smoke, which turned out to be electrical: Burned out motor on a HVAC system.
By midnight all AFD assets had packed up and returned to quarters, waiting for the next tone.
E2 taps into Fire Dept Connection to supplement building's sprinkler system
