Former Trustee Warns of Fire Dept Peril; Merger Under Study

by Judy Silberstein*

(September 13, 2007) A former Village trustee and former Larchmont fire chief, Mike Wiener, warned the Larchmont Board on Monday, September 10 that their restructuring of the Larchmont Fire Department under a paid chief “has completely failed“ and has “served to place both the firefighters and village residents at peril.” He and another former trustee and volunteer firefighter, Ned Benton, called for the board to contract with the Town of Mamaroneck Fire Department for Larchmont Village’s fire protection. While strenuously disagreeing with Mr. Wiener and Mr. Benton’s characterizations, statistics and conclusions, the mayor and trustees said they were actively studying merger of fire services.

According to Mr. Wiener, who has not joined the recent exodus of volunteers from the department, responses to fire calls had dropped precipitously and the current average, given by Fire Chief Rich Heine as 2.8 volunteers per active alarm last month, was insufficient to “both perform any rescues and start suppression activities” in the critical 5 minutes before mutual aid arrives from neighboring departments. (See: Now Both Sides Agree: 17 of 28 Active VOL Firefighters Resign.) He called on the board to cease recruiting new volunteer firefighters because “you cannot provide for them basic support and safety.”

Most controversially, Mr. Wiener said his concerns for safety at Chatsworth School had led him to look into transferring his daughter to Central, where any fire would be under command of the Town of Mamaroneck Fire Department (TMFD).

That prompted outrage from the board (see: letter from Mayor Liz Feld). Mayor Feld called his assertions “completely inaccurate, untrue and irresponsible.” Asked by the mayor for his assessment, Fire Chief Rich Heine said, “There is no greater risk to anyone in the Village than there was 4 months ago or 2 years ago.”

According to the mayor, fielding volunteers during the day has been an “age-long problem” afflicting both the Village and the Town.

Mr. Benton countered: Larchmont Village, before the recent exodus of volunteers, had received marks of “excellent” from independent raters. He called TMFD an “excellent department.”

Nevertheless, there were points of agreement. Both the former and current trustees referred to the Larchmont Fire Department as “broken” – while disagreeing heatedly over who had broken it.

And despite flashes of extreme hostility, there was also surprising concurrence on the issue of merger. Trustee Marlene Kolbert was unsure if merger would yield significant cost savings, but added, “That’s not to say that we shouldn’t study it, that we won’t study it – I think we will.”

When pressed by Mr. Benton on whether “studying” was a substitute for “doing it,” Trustee Jim Millstein vehemently disagreed, saying his investigations had intensified in recent weeks, but “you just don’t snap your fingers and overnight make a merger. There are new fire districts, new negotiations, new labor contracts – it’s going to take time,” he said.

On a much calmer note, the board unanimously approved the hiring, effective September 7, of professional firefighters Christopher DiGillio and Michael Galucci at an annual salary of $27,933. They fill slots left by the appointment of Chief Heine and an upcoming retirement. (Captain Tom Andersen confirmed later that he will be retiring soon, after thirty years with the department.)

*Judy Silberstein is married to Ned Benton.