Budget woes may cost Saugus fire dept. staffing

SAUGUS – When the Board of Selectmen got its first look at Town Manager Andrew Bisignani’s budget, at least one said nothing particularly damaging jumped out.Fire Chief James Blanchard would beg to differ.Under Bisignani’s budget both the Fire Department and Police Department stand to lose one position. Police Chief Domenic DiMella said he believes he will lose an employee through attrition, which means he won’t have to actually lay anyone off. For Blanchard, however, the loss translates to a layoff.Not only does the cut mean the loss of one position, it means the loss of a well-trained firefighter who is currently attending the Fire Academy in Stowe.Blanchard said he was concerned when he and Bisignani first discussed the possibility of hiring a new firefighter earlier this year. With the way the economy was headed, Blanchard said he was worried that he would hire someone only to turn around and lay them off. He was so worried that Bisignani agreed to tell the new hire that there was a chance he’d lose his job by the end of June.”He was disappointed, but he understood,” Blanchard said.He also took the job which, looking at the big picture, will cost the town money but only benefit the firefighter. Blanchard said if he is laid off the new hire will still have been academy-trained, received Emergency Medical Technician training and have had several months on the job.In other words, he will be a dream candidate for any other community looking to hire a firefighter.”There are still stations out there that hire firefighters and don’t do anything,” Blanchard said. “They show them around and hand them a helmet and put them to work. We have always mandated that they attend the academy. . . it’s a huge liability not to.”Blanchard said the loss of the new hire puts him not only back to square one but slightly behind due to the cost of training. As far as the loss of a position goes, it means the loss of a slight cushion.Minimum manning for the Fire Department is nine men per shift. Blanchard said he has two groups of nine men and two groups of 10.”If I got to keep him, it would have given me a cushion,” he said. “We could have had a guy take a personal day or a vacation day and I would not have to use overtime.”Blanchard said it is simply frustrating.”We worked so hard to pay down our debt,” he said referring to the whole town. “We got rid of the (Kasabuski) rink, we got into the GIC (state’s Group Insurance Commission). . . we’ve done all we can to sustain ourselves and I still lose a body.”Blanchard could get a reprieve, but he is not confident. The budget still must go through the Finance Committee, and Town Meeting has the ultimate say when it hits the floor during the annual spring meeting that begins in May.