By Chase Wright
The Hour
STAMFORD, Conn. — With the exception of the Glenbrook Fire Department, volunteer fire companies in Stamford are quickly falling into bankruptcy; some may not even make it through June.
Turn of River Fire Department effectively closed one of its two stations six months ago and has recently begun selling off assets to pay its outstanding debts, said TOR Assistant Chief Matthew Maounis.
Engine 61, a 1996 Seagrave pumper, brought in $42,000 on eBay.com, said Maounis, a mere dent in his department’s $180,000 projected year-end budget deficit.
Mayor Dannel Malloy allocated the entirely volunteer fire company $40,000 for fiscal year 2009-10 in his proposed budget. Maounis says that’s $656,700 less than his department needs to sustain operations.
“There’s no way this department can survive on $40,000, let alone finish out the rest of this year,” said Maounis.
He said TOR will continue to sell off its apparatus to pay the $30,000 monthly operating costs of the department until he’s forced to borrow against the buildings.
“If we can’t pay off that loan on time, we will foreclose,” said Maounis.
It’s been a slow, painful death for volunteer firefighters in Stamford. Four of the “Big Five” volunteer companies have yet to agree to Malloy’s consolidation plan, which would merge all departments under the central command of Stamford Fire and Rescue.
Malloy said his plan would provide greater coverage to the city and save millions of dollars, but the volunteer chiefs fear they would lose their autonomy to operate independently from the city.
Malloy has once again wielded his powers over the city’s budget, allocating significantly less money to the volunteers who refuse to play ball. Belltown Fire Company, also entirely volunteer, requested $191,000 for fiscal year 2009-10. Just as last year, Malloy has recommended the 80-year-old company receive $20,000 for its operating expenses.
As a result of last year’s minuscule allocation, Belltown will likely end the year $120,000 in debt, said Chief John Didelot.
“The mayor says he’s going to give us a $20,000 budget and we’re going to try and work within the confines of that, but we’ll be going into some of our own money very shortly,” said Didelot. “We’re on the same path that Turn of River is on. It’s only a matter of time before we exhaust our own funds, lock the doors and start selling assets.”
The TOR and Belltown chiefs said the mayor violated the city charter when he decided to cut the volunteers’ budget. Both departments are currently mired in legal battles with the city.
Peter Privitera, director of the Office of Policy and Management for the city, said it’s unlikely the city could sustain the fire companies next year without completely decimating the funds of another city department.
“There’s not a lot of wiggle room out there,” said Privitera. “It’s a very, very tight budget year.”
Thus far, Glenbrook is the only department to reach an agreement with the city to mutually operate its services with Stamford Fire & Rescue, and city officials said the transition has been seamless and working conditions have improved substantially. Glenbrook requested $162,200 for next fiscal year. Malloy has recommended giving the department $163,881.
Shawn Fahan, fire chief of Springdale Fire Com-pany, Stamford’s oldest volunteer fire department still in operation, called the budget cuts and volunteer firefighter treatment “de-plorable.”
Currently his department is $30,000 in debt, he said, and headed on the same path as TOR and Belltown.
“That’s not what it’s all about,” said Fahan. “It’s about peoples lives. For a city of this magnitude to do this to their volunteers is ridiculous.”
Copyright 2009 The Hour