What Happened with Nottingham’s Fire Department During the Fire at Kustra’s Auto Body?
Other neighboring towns provided mutual aid. Nottingham did not.
On October 16, the Lee Fire Department responded to a fire at Kustra’s Auto Body, issuing this statement:
At 7:38am the fire department was dispatched for a structure fire at 128 Wadleigh Falls Road, Kustra’s Auto Body. Initial reports were the fire was spreading quickly. Lee Engine 1, Tanker 3, and Chief 1 responded with aid from Durham, Barrington, Epping, Newmarket and McGregor Memorial Ambulance which were started automatically. En route, Lee Engine 1 requested a 1st Alarm Response due to the potential severity.
On arrival Lee Engine 1 found heavy smoke coming from the right side of the building and found the fire to be on the exterior of the building and above the first bay. The first in crew quickly deployed a hose line and were able to get water on the fire. These quick efforts along with those by the staff contained the fire. Mutual aid crews worked along side Lee to check for extension into the building since the fire started making its way in the attic space.
The damage was contained to the first bay with minimal water damage to the second bay. Smoke was evacuated from the rest of the building.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but is believed to be an issue with an exterior motor in the vent system.
We would like to thank everyone who assisted us at the fire today.
Lee Police Department
Durham Fire Department
Epping Fire Department
Mcgregor Memorial Ambulance
Newmarket Fire Department
Dover Fire Department
Barrington Fire Department
Madbury Fire Department
Newington Fire Department
Absent from this list of neighboring towns providing mutual aid was Nottingham. In response to my inquiry about this absence, Deputy Chief Mark Pedersen stated,
Nottingham was automatically toned to respond with a tanker for a first alarm structure fire in Lee. The one FF who was on duty, waited for more NFRD members to respond, and when none others responded, they asked for a re-tone for more fire fighters. Still having no more response, they left the station with the tanker (see more explanation below about tanker response). After acknowledging both Rockingham Dispatch and UNH dispatch (who dispatches Lee) that the tanker was on "air" and responding, they started to travel to the scene. After 3 minutes of response time, UNH dispatch called the tanker to cancel the response.
Mutual aid is set up for automatic response from surrounding communities for numerous types of calls including but not limited to confirmed structure fire, smoke in the building, alarm sounding (especially in a commercial building), motor vehicle accidents etc. Depending on the pre-plan, type of structure and type of call, the run card will indicate what type of apparatus is being requested to the scene or for station coverage. The purpose of a tanker is for water supply and often is requested for extra water not necessarily for fire fighter personnel, therefore, it is not out of the realm of possibility that a tanker would respond with just the driver, as again the important thing is water and not personnel. Additionally, in many incidents, incoming apparatus often get canceled enroute if the incident commander determines that the scene is under control. This cancelation enroute occurs more often than not, especially if/when the incident turns out to not actually be a structure fire, or the incident is smaller than expected and can be handled by the apparatus already on scene, or the fire was knocked down and contained quickly by first arriving apparatus. A way to think about this is that mutual aid automatic responses are set up with the idea it is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it, and if it is "on the way" and not needed, it is easy to simply cancel enroute.
In 2022 Nottingham voters passed a warrant article to fund having the fire station staffed by two firefighters 24/7. On October 16, only one firefighter was on duty.
On October 13, Town Administrator Ellen White reported to the Budget Committee that the Fire Department had three full-time firefighter positions vacant.
March 20, 2023 marks the last time the Nottingham Fire and Rescue Department was fully staffed and in compliance with the 2022 warrant article providing 24/7 coverage. Since that date, Nottingham and its Fire Department have been turned into the laughing stock of the seacoast and the entirety of Rockingham County.
Relying heavily on mutual aid from surrounding communities while not being able to fulfill their end of the bargain in assisting neighboring towns when their calls for help go out.
A total embarrassment.
You can thank Ellen White and your Nottingham Board of Selectman for their role in this. John Morin, Donna Danis, Ben Bartlett, Timothy Dabreio, Matthew Shitland, Steve Welch.
These Einstein’s already tried the simple minded approach of throwing money at the problem last year when spontaneous massive unprecedented and un-budgeted pay increases were handed out only leading to more rats fleeing the sinking ship. It’s all public information and has been previously covered here in this informative blog.
Failed leadership and massive damage is what we’re faced with.
It didn’t work then.
It won’t work now.
Get a clue.
Using money like band aids cannot resolve these deep issues.
Someone might want to let the fork tongued ‘Capt’ Pederson know that Seacoast Chief Mutual Aid District has minimum staffing requirements for mutual aid apparatus.
ONE RESPONDER ON A TANKER DOES NOT MEET THAT REQUIREMENT.
Guess he missed that briefing?
The ineptitude in Nottingham is astounding.
"In 2022 Nottingham voters passed a warrant article to fund having the fire station staffed by two firefighters 24/7".
That was two years ago now. We know many firefighters have come and gone and that the department is not at full staffing. However, what needs to be done to fix it? We know staffing for public safety (fire and police) is a regional, statewide, and national problem. How much money will it cost to fix? That is a much better discussion to have then pointing out a problem that seems obvious because the department is not fully staffed. When things aren't working on a budget that is two years old (in both inflation terms and in terms of supply and demand of qualified public safety employees) it should not come as a surprise that there is a staffing issue. The Town could pass a warrant article to staff the FD with 6 per day at minimum wage... in reality it would be staffed at 0 and that is not a surprise.
Important questions:
- How much money is needed for achieving adequate staffing at FD (and PD)?
- How many applications have been received for the open positions?
- What is the capability of nearby towns to cover calls?