Master Plan, CRA/SOC
Town of Southington, CT
Opportunity #3: Service Delivery Deployment and Documentation Recommendation 3.1: All staffed engines and ladder trucks should have a minimum of four personnel. The Southington Fire Department should work toward having a minimum of four personnel on all staffed engines and ladder trucks in accordance with NFPA 1710. The value of four-person staffing cannot be overstated. Four firefighters allow for a safer and more efficient delivery of fire suppression operations than is possible with only three firefighters. The town and department should make a commitment to adopting a minimum staffing policy using NFPA 1710 that guarantees at least four qualified members on each piece of apparatus for field operations. Recommendation 3.2: Modify the Working Fire Protocol Declaration to ensure that adequate resources are dispatched to a working fire in a single-family home to initially respond at least 17 firefighters and that at least 28 firefighters are initially dispatched for working fires in strip malls and apartment buildings. The Southington Fire Department uses a “Working Fire Protocol Declaration” to determine the mutual aid that will be requested for a working fire. ESCI understands that Southington volunteer firefighters are dispatched to working fires and may respond, but since there is no guarantee of a volunteer firefighter response, volunteers are not included in this calculation to illustrate the potential worst-case scenario of a working fire without any volunteer response. Based on the current Working Fire Protocol Declaration, in order to achieve an effective fire fighting force of 17 firefighters for a single-family residence, Southington will require a second alarm response. To satisfy the ERF of 28 firefighters for a strip shopping center or an apartment building, Southington will require a third alarm response. ESCI recommends that the Southington Fire Department modify its Working Fire Protocol Declaration to assure that those adequate resources are dispatched to a working fire in a single-family home to initially respond at least 17 firefighters and that at least 28 firefighters are initially dispatched for working fires in strip malls and apartment buildings. Figure 134: Southington Fire Department Working Fire Declaration: Personnel On Scene 1st Alarm Department Southington Bristol (North) or Meriden (South) for RIT
Alarm Total
Staffing 6 3
9
2nd Alarm 3rd Alarm Department Staffing Department Staffing Southington 6 Southington 6 Meriden Bristol Plainville Cheshire Kensington
3 3 3 3 3
19
Meriden Bristol Plainville Cheshire Kensington New Britain Wolcott
3 3 3 3 3 6 3 30 Page 178
