Preston residents to hear pitch for paid firefighters Thursday
Casey's original proposal called for having enough paid staff on duty to provide at least two responders to any incident in town, including a request for
But the
The budget public hearing will be at
Casey said Wednesday the
Currently, he said, there are so few volunteers responding to calls in
Casey's original plan would have had at least two paid firefighters on duty 24 hours a day, in addition to his position as paid fire chief.
Currently,
The staffing partly is subsidized by the
Poquetanuck Deputy Chief
Casey said once the budget is approved by residents this spring or summer, he will begin advertising for trained, part-time firefighters and create a schedule -- as he now does -- for as many shifts as the budget can cover.
Casey currently has a list of 15 people to cover the town's funded per diem shifts. They provide him with their available dates and times and he works out a schedule each week and month.
Casey said he is not concerned about as issue enveloping other local towns with combined volunteer and per diem paid firefighters. Towns have learned that the federal Fair Labor Act prohibits town employees from "performing volunteer services for the same entity by which they are employed." A longtime
Casey said only three of the current per diem firefighters are volunteer firefighters in
"There are so few volunteers responding, I don't see it as an issue," Casey said. "I think volunteering as we know it is changing, and the way we used to think of volunteering is becoming a thing of the past."
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