Saugus firefighters union mulls uses for new hires

SAUGUS – The Saugus firefighters union couldn?t be happier about the $1.2 million grant the department received for hires, but union President Bill Cross said he has some ideas about how they should be put to work.The $1.2 million grant, awarded in December, is from the Federal Emergency Management Agency?s (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program, and will pay for the salary and benefits of the eight firefighters for two years once they?re hired.?We?re excited about the new guys. Anytime we get new guys, it makes our jobs safer,” said Cross. “But I don?t know how the town is going to pay for these guys after two years.”Town Manager Scott Crabtree said in October when the town applied for the grant that his plan was to budget and appropriate funds to keep the eight firefighters on the department, but Cross has a different plan: for the town to run its own ambulance service.Cross pointed to Melrose as an example of a community providing its own service. “If we did the ambulance service, we?d bill for those services and it would pay for those guys,” he said. “They?ve got to be making money in Melrose or they wouldn?t be doing it.”When asked if he and other union members had put forward a proposal in August when Crabtree, Saugus Police Chief Domenic DiMella and Fire Chief Donald McQuaid were reviewing proposals for new service, Cross said no.Cross said he pitched the idea to Crabtree before, but the town manager didn?t think it would be a money maker. “But it would pay for the guys who were working for sure,” said Cross.If not the ambulance, Cross proposed that the town finally build a fire station on the west side of town. A issue of discussion since the 1960s, a majority vote on a ballot question in 2002 showed voters wanted the town to build a western fire station and to equip it with a ladder truck – but not to staff it with firefighters.?The people spoke over 10 years ago, and now we?ve got enough guys to man it,” he said. “We?ve been starving for a fire station there since the ?60s. It?s near impossible to get there in a timely fashion. Driving through Saugus during the holidays is brutal, and even on non-holidays, it?s not an easy ride.”Cross said he and other union members agree both ideas can?t happen, but said they were the two that had been brought up the most within the union.?I think Crabtree has the foresight to do something like this, we?re just hoping to give him a little push,” said Cross. “Our budget?s been tight for the last 10 years. Scott?s done great job keeping the station open and keeping us fully manned, but looking long-term, the goal should be to make it better.”