The document discusses the possibility of regionalizing fire departments across 12 towns in Massachusetts centered around Lunenburg. Regionalization could improve response times through a larger pool of firefighters available to respond from closer stations. It could also provide financial benefits through a larger combined budget supported by all of the towns' property and business tax revenues. While change may be difficult, the author argues that regionalization could deliver fire protection and emergency services more safely, efficiently and quickly to the communities served.

1. Eric Parsons May 4, 2013
Fire and Emergency Services Administration Research Topic
Implementing a regional fire department here in Massachusetts would be a radical
change to the established system of fire protection services. The examples of regional fire
departments given, New York City Fire Department and Los Angeles County Fire
Department, have long and successful histories of operating in such a format. Creating a
regional fire department out of small towns and cities in this part of the country, while
possible and potentially very successful, is an undertaking that would be resisted by a
great number of people simply because of the change it would represent. As we have
learned this semester, the road to change is long and difficult with many obstacles along
the way. In the course of this paper, I will address the structure of fire departments in this
part of the country as they are now, as well as how they could be transformed into a
regional fire department, and changes that would need to be implemented along with
potential benefits of this reorganization.
There are several towns that I would like to look at for considering the possibility
of regionalization of fire departments. Centered on Lunenburg, Massachusetts, those
towns are as follows: Lunenburg, Fitchburg, Leominster, Lancaster, Harvard, Devens,
Shirley, Ayer, Groton, Pepperell, Townsend, and Ashby. I believe that these twelve
towns could be successfully regionalized to provide sufficient fire protection to all
residents and businesses. With the exception of Fitchburg and Leominster, each with a
population of approximately 40,000 people, all of these towns have 11,000 or less
residents. Fitchburg and Leominster each staff three fire stations in the boundaries of

2. their respective cities and have rosters of around 80 career members each. The towns of
Townsend, Groton, and Lancaster, have five, three, and two fire stations respectively.
The remaining towns that I have proposed for hypothetical regionalization all have one
fire station. All of these small town departments have less than 50 members, the majority
of them in each town either paid call members or volunteers. Some of these towns have
as few as one full time member.
One of the most important factors to consider when discussing regionalization of
fire departments is response time. Response time is a serious concern for all fire
departments, due to the fact that the amount of time it takes to arrive at a medical
emergency or fire incident can have very severe consequences. Medical emergencies can
turn deadly within minutes, and depending upon variables such as materials, fuel load,
and weather, fires can increase in size and intensity at an amazing rate. As firefighters
and EMTs, it is our job to do everything we safely can to prevent the loss of life and
destruction of property. This means that we need to arrive on scene as quickly as we can
without jeopardizing our own safety. Therefore, location of fire stations relative to the
location of the emergency is a very important relationship. This is why some of the small
towns that are mentioned above have more than one fire house. It is because these
departments are responsible for protecting a large geographical area. They establish
multiple fire stations in an effort to reduce response times to all parts of the town they
serve.
Regionalization is a great solution to the problem of slow response times. In the
case of many towns in this part of the country, it may take longer for the fire department
in a certain town to respond to an incident than it would take for a bordering town’s fire

3. department to respond to the same incident. An example of this would be the response of
the Shirley Fire Department to an incident in Lunenburg. The part of Lunenburg where I
live is very close to the bordering town of Shirley. If there was a fire at my house, at six
o’clock in the evening, there is a strong possibility that firefighters from Shirley could
respond to that fire in a more expedient manner than firefighters from Lunenburg could. I
mention the time of day because with towns that rely heavily on call or volunteer
members, time of day matters. At ten o’clock in the morning, most call firefighters are
likely at work and unable to respond. But after the work day is over, those members of
the department are available for calls. With regionalization, response time is much less of
a concern, because regardless of what time of the day it is, there will be a greater number
of firefighters available to respond to calls. This is due to sheer odds more than anything.
A greater number of firefighters would mean that there would be a greater possibility of
enough personnel being available to work an incident.
Beside the benefit of a greater number of firefighters, regionalization would
benefit me, the resident of the house that is on fire, because the Shirley Fire Department
could initiate an immediate response to my home, without waiting for a second alarm to
be struck by Lunenburg Fire, as they must do now. This would mean that instead of
waiting for the second alarm to page volunteer members for response to a house fire,
Shirley Fire could do that as soon as the emergency call was received. The sooner that
volunteer members are paged, the faster the response time is in general, meaning greater
possibility of survival for me and my family. We are talking about a matter of minutes,
but we must remember that in our business, every minute counts.

4. Although response time is critical, making it the biggest reason I would support
regionalization, a secondary benefit of regionalizing would be monetary. Combining the
budgets of multiple towns could have a very positive outcome. This is true for many
reasons. One reason is that with a combined budget, a regional fire department could
make more money. In the text, the author states that property or real estate taxes are the
most common funding sources for local governments. The regionalization of twelve
towns would mean a great deal more in property taxes for the regional fire department’s
budget than a single town’s property taxes would provide for that town’s fire department.
All towns would bring an attractive amount of money in property taxes to the table, in
one way or another. In cities like Fitchburg and Leominster, there are larger numbers of
properties than in the smaller surrounding towns. So these cities would provide to the
regional budget a larger number of property tax payers. In towns such as Lancaster and
Groton however, there are homes that are worth more money than many of those in the
cities. Because property tax is paid according to a percentage of property value, these
property owners would each pay more in taxes than many property owners in Fitchburg
would.
Another consideration would be that of the number of commercial properties in
the region as well. Leominster would bring a great deal in property taxes into the regional
budget because that city has a large number of successful businesses. As businesses are
often taxed based upon the income of the business, Leominster could collect a lot of
money in commercial property taxes, and that would benefit the regional fire
department’s budget greatly. Small towns like Ashby and Pepperell, that do not have
many commercial properties, would provide little in commercial real estate tax money. In

5. the end, I believe that property taxes provided by each town to the regional budget would
even out. This is because the smaller towns have homes and properties that are worth
more money and the larger cities have a larger number of properties, both residential and
commercial.
As far as making money, there are more ways for fire departments to do so than
by relying on property taxes. Fundraising is something that a lot of municipal fire
departments are forced to do to be able to afford new equipment and pay for other
necessities. For example, each year the Lunenburg Fire Department hosts a “Bonfire” in
the summer time. In conjunction with other town departments, such as the school
department and sometimes the police department, entertainers are hired, games are
played, food is sold, and there is usually a band playing. The night culminates with the
lighting of a structure built out of wooden pallets donated by local businesses, which
creates the bonfire. Along with this event, the fire department participates in other
fundraising events, such as an annual meat raffle. Many small town fire departments do
similar fundraising activities. Imagine the fundraising that a regional fire department
could do! Twelve towns together could create an event that would be unforgettable. A lot
more money could be raised to support a regional fire department if all of those towns
pooled their resources and creativity to host fundraising events.
The main point to be made is that a regional fire department could provide better
service and better response times to the communities that it served. With more
firefighters and EMTs, a larger budget to pay for necessary equipment, supplies, hiring of
personnel, and training, and the combined knowledge of administrators, fire officers, and

6. veteran firefighters and EMTs from all of those communities, every incident could be
handled in a faster, more efficient, and safer manner.
Informational Resources
http://www.ayer.ma.us/pages/ayerma_fire/
http://www.ci.ashby.ma.us/fire/index_fire.html
http://www.ci.fitchburg.ma.us/government/departments/fire/default.cfm
http://firedepartmentdirectory.com/Fire-Department/Fire-Stations/Fire-
Station.aspx?state=Massachusetts&county=Middlesex&city=Shirley&station=Shirley
%20Fire%20Department
http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-149/issue-
6/departments/the-ol-professor/rapid-fire-spread-and-other-deadly-hazards.html
http://www.firehouse.com/forums/t15272/
http://www.grotonfd.org/contact.html
http://www.harvardfire.com/
http://www.lancasterfd.net/
http://www.leominster-ma.gov/fire_department_index.htm
http://www.lunenburgma.gov/content/192/949/1276/default.aspx
http://www.pepperell-mass.com/fire/
http://www.shirley-ma.gov/Pages/ShirleyMA_Fire/Index
http://www.townsendfire-ems.org/
http://usfiredept.com/devens-fire-department-6334.html
http://yngfire.com/index.php?topic=10456.0