General Government - Town of Meredith

General Government
Fire
To the town manager, select board, department heads, municipal employees, citizens, fire department
officers and members, I once again express my appreciation and gratitude for all the efforts put forth during
this past year. With everyone’s support, dedication, and strong focus, the Department continues to strive to
offer the best public service within its capabilities.
With the Federal Communication Commission mandate requiring all radio communication equipment be
narrow banded by the beginning of 2013, the department was able to meet the requirement relatively less
than initially thought. It required a purchase of 20 new pagers to replace old obsolete pagers unable to meet
the requirement being enforced by FCC. The department then received assistance from Lakes Region
Mutual Fire Aid with the reprogramming of all department pagers and two-way radios, which in the long
run saved significant tax dollars.
Also this past year through LRMFA, the department was able to fit test all department members that are
eligible to wear self contain breathing apparatus which is an annual mandate. Once again, this was a
significant saving as LRMFA purchased a fit test machine which is being shared throughout the entire
system, saving all departments money from purchasing such services through outside venders. The
department applied and received funds from the State Forestry Title IV Grant in 2012. The monies awarded
through the grant allowed for purchases in forestry personal protective gear for department members and
forestry equipment to be placed/distributed on Bear Island among the two associations within.
Recruitment and retention continues to be the main focus for daily operations. This is witnessed as a
nationwide problem with volunteer and call departments with the stringent requirements associated with
training and department polices. To date we have been able to meet the hurdles by initiating and continuing
the intern program. As we continue to look forward, the department is aging and the younger generations
are certainly not stepping to the plate. We will continue to focus, monitor, and adjust as we see fit.
In 2012 the department total runs continued to increase by 9% over the previous year. Once again I strongly
encourage all business and home owners to insure proper routine maintenance is scheduled and completed
on an annual basis on all heating appliances, exhaust sources, smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors and
sprinkler systems. We continue to respond to numerous calls associated with these associated sources in
which in most cases could have been preventable with annual maintenance. As shown below, fifty percent
of the calls is Public Assist, with the majority being alarm activations.
Listed below are the calls associated for the year 2007 through 2012.
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
Fire Related (structure, vehicle and brush) 9.6% 7.% 4.3% 8.8% 8.8% 6.8%
Mutual Aid (assisting neighboring towns) 12.9 16.6 15.8 10.1 9.3 12.7
Rescue (motor vehicle accidents, medical) 24.1 22.0 34.4 24.7 20.9 29.9
Public Assist (alarm activations, etc.) 53.4 54.4 45.5 57.2 60.2 50.6
100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Total number of calls 395 384 334 320 387 354
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Town of Meredith