WESTHAMPTON — The town’s public safety complex is on its last legs and needs replaced, which is why the town’s fire chief is making a pitch for funding in next year’s budget to design a new facility.
Meanwhile, the department put a new tanker truck into service in November. Though it has yet to be used to fight a structure fire, the truck is a welcome addition to a department that features 30 on-call, volunteer firefighters, Fire Chief Christopher Norris said.
The department’s growth, however, is being stymied by the numerous maintenance and safety issues posed by the problems with the 65-year-old public safety building.
Norris said firefighters are often exposed to diesel exhaust because the building lacks an adequate ventilation system. The complex is also too small to house new fire engines, should the town one day invest in one, Norris said.
To address these needs, Norris is requesting $55,000 from the town in his fiscal 2018 budget to fund a feasibility study and design of a new complex. The department will hold an informational meeting in May to go over the budget prior to Town Meeting.
“The public safety complex has outlived its useful life space and needs to be replaced immediately,” the budget request states. “This needs to be made a priority for replacement by the town.”
One issue with the facility is the exposure to diesel exhaust. Norris said newer safety complexes have a vehicle exhaust extrication system. But Westhampton does not.
Exhaust lingers in the garage and seeps into the office and common room above, Norris said.
According to the Fire Fighter Cancer Foundation, many studies indicate that breathing vehicle exhaust fumes inside the firehouse can cause or contribute to serious illnesses such as emphysema, cancer, heart attack and stroke.
The foundation said exhaust from diesel fuel contains toxic substances that disperse in the breathing area in the firehouse and the exhaust residue adheres to walls and other surfaces, and becomes embedded in clothing and furniture where it can be absorbed through the skin.
Along with health risks, the current complex the limits the department’s potential for growth. Norris said some of the department’s vehicles are old and at the end of their useful life, but newer engine models are too long to fit in the complex.
The new tanker truck was funded primarily by a $238,000 U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighters grant in 2015. The town chipped in the remaining $84,746 to buy the truck.
Over the past two decades, the Westhampton Fire Department used a converted tanker truck made from a cab and chassis of a garbage truck and the body of a milk truck.
Financial constraints in the 1990s inspired some people in town to get creative in building a tanker truck. Norris called it “old Yankee ingenuity.”
But that ingenuity can only go so far, which is why the new truck is a needed addition to help the department protect the town’s 1,700 residents.
The tanker truck is a necessity for fighting structure fires in the town because it can bring more than 2,000 gallons of water to the fire scene.
“This town has no municipal water supply,” Norris said. “No fire hydrants.”
For water supply, the fire department relies on a cistern by Hampshire Regional High School and nearby streams, rivers and brooks.
For the volunteer fire department, a significant amount of funding for vehicles and equipment is through grants. Since 2006, the department has obtained $673,484 in federal grant money. This year, the department has applied for an $180,000 grant for a new ambulance and $25,000 grant for a new fire hose.
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.