NEAFC 32nd Annual Conference.pdf - New England Association of ...

NEW ENGLAND _A_’SSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS
increasing the man efficiency, o]~ the efficiency per man, is essential, and it is a
part of the Fire Chiefs’ responsibilities.
The additional men, of course, are also necessary, if you are going to get~
proper man-power, and that, in turn, increases the cost to the municipality;
which is o limited by the t~x base, on which they are operating.
And I do believe very, very deeply, that one of the Fire Chiefs’ major’
responsibilities, is to go along with the shorter-hour week, but make sure that
the men are occupied during the hours in which they are on duty; otherwise,
you will have a great deal of difficulty in convincing the municipal fathers
that additional men are necessary.
There is one other thing that I would like to throw in, here, Roi, not to
enlarge or increase this question, which can be discussed, perhaps for a week, but
here it is. What is the fireman’s~ objective in securing the shorter hour week?
The average laborer and mechanic likes the shorter hour week, so that he will
have more time with his family, and more time for recreation.
Unfortunately, if we .a_re gqing to be realistic and face facts, a gre_at many
o£ the firemen want a shorter hour week, and they want it bunched up into two
or three days, so that they can pick up another job.
I think that it is ~he"responsibility of the Fire Chiefs, as I said on the
Opening Day of t.his Conference, to provide efficient fire protection in an economical
manner, and, if we are going to justify the addition o£ more men, we
must keep them occupied, not only in training, not only in their routine work,
but let us get them out and do building inspections and that sort of thing’
Let us increase the fire prevention eff_Qrt, £or_ then,, in my opinion, the Fire
Chiefwill be in a sound position, and with some of the answers, when he asks
the City Manager. or the Mayor £or a number o£ additional men.
M013ERATOR WOOLLE¥: I think we all believe that i{ ~ nothing came out
o£ this meeting ot~ all the Panels that we have had, £urther than this discussion
right here on this one topic, it would be worth while, because many
the Chiefs, when-they go back home, are going to face t-hls?problerri, and they
can say: ..
"I have been led to understand this situation as. it is, and I thinl~ that I
can justify having shorter work hours £or .my men, by using them a little
more intelligently and a lit.~le better, and pfiaducing, with firemen, a better
yearly statement of my business.". - ~
And your Fire ChieiCs are in business; yes, every Chief here, is in business.
However, there area t~ew who~head ,up the smaller departments, perhaps,
and I would like to hear from a couple of them. What have-you- got-,. Brother
Kimball, down at Hingham? Do youwant to-say a word or two on this?
CHIEF KIMBALL O~ Hingham:--Yes; I would like-to go a step-further,
to bring the salaries of the firemen up, so that they won’t have to work on
the outside.
MODERATOR WOOLLEY: That i~ Fight to the point, and very good.
~tTho is. next?
.
Ci-iI~ LAUGHLIN ot~ East Providence: Well, I am in a lit£1e different’
position, I think, than most ot~ the other._- departments. Our department is
panding,, aad~e h~ve. shorter hours..-We haxe had the ho.u_.rs._reduced several
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