This year the Provincetown Fire Department answered approximately 217 calls. Calls for fire and rescue continue to increase every year. Once again, we consider ourselves very fortunate that they were all answered safely. Every year many more different types of affairs continue to happen in Provincetown all year round. These events have proven to be very successful and we are all pleased with the results, however, a longer season and more visitors put more of a demand on this department.
The town had a program where every year they would put money aside in a fire vehicle account and every twenty years they would buy a new truck. However, new trucks were too tall to fit into our old stations so we had to wait until we moved into our new station to start replacing trucks. This caused us to get way behind on our replacement program and now we are finally one fire engine away from being caught up. We should be taking delivery of our new engine 194 sometime in June of 2006. This is a great accomplishment for this department and the Town of Provincetown. It has taken us many years for us to achieve this goal. I can’t begin to tell you how good it feels to have this project completed. I know this seems like an expensive project, however, please keep in mind that there is no large payroll or benefit packages tied to this department and we do need this equipment to get the job done. This is the same equipment that would be needed if we had a full time staff. The Rescue Squad purchases all of their equipment, with the exception of the trucks, with funds that the members raise through the Rescue Squad Association. If it weren't for their efforts our operating budget would be considerably more. Once we get these vehicles replaced we will be back on track and will be replacing the fire trucks every twenty years and the rescue trucks every eight years. Please keep in mind that Mutual aid from other departments can only get here from one direction, we have to be self-sufficient. Provincetown has the furthest run to a hospital than any other town in the Commonwealth; our fire and rescue trucks have to be in excellent condition to answer the amount of calls that this department answers.
Our goal has always been to operate as a volunteer department for as long as possible. This not only saves the town a great deal of money, but it provides a large number of personnel to any type of incident when needed. If we had a full time department, you would get two or three firemen on duty for that shift and most times that would not be enough personnel to handle the incident. To date our system works well. However, we have and continue to lose many members of this department due to lack of affordable hosing in our town. Many of our dedicated members have had to move from our community because of the lack of affordable homes or affordable year-round apartments. The time has come if we are going to save this department to find some kind of housing for our people. We need two and three bedroom homes and apartments that are available and affordable. The membership of this department has historically been made up of fisherman, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, the folks from our local appliance company, gas company, oil company, insurance agency, basically the tradesmen and women of our community. When we answered any type of call we had an expert on the scene for any type of incident that we could possibly be called out to handle. That is what made this department so great. I can’t think of any other department that could turn out to an incident with so many people with this kind of talent. Some of us are second, third and fourth generation firefighters and we would like to see this proud tradition continue for another one hundred years. The only way this can happen is if we find a way for our tradesmen and women to find affordable housing. We need to keep these people here for all of the services that they provide to our community. We also need to keep the school system going so we can continue to have second, third and forth generation firefighters to continue this proud tradition. If the school goes away I am afraid that we will lose the very people that have for so many years kept this department going and have provided many other services to this community. Our members give a great deal of their time for little or no compensation. This is a very dangerous business and all we have ever asked for is the proper equipment to protect us so we can get the job done to better serve the citizens of Provincetown. Now we are faced with this housing situation and we are asking for some kind of solution to this problem. We are thankful for everyone's support of this department.
The Firemen's Association is continually thinking of ways to raise money. They use these funds to make improvements around the station, purchase equipment, maintain the Franklin J. Oliver Scholarship Fund and for many other projects. We are still in the process of having our 1936 American LaFrance Fire Engine completely restored. This project is going along a little slower than we would like but I know the end result will be well worth it. A lot of time and effort has gone into this project. This is the oldest motorized piece of fire apparatus that we managed to retain. When this truck is completed and shows up in the Fourth of July Parade every one will be able to enjoy this beautiful classic. We truly appreciate every ones support, it is your generous donations and continued support that makes projects like these possible.
We continue to plan for the future and are always looking for better ways to serve the citizens of Provincetown. Once again, I would like to thank everyone for their generous donations to the Firemen's Association and the Rescue Squad Association. Your donations make it possible for these organizations to purchase much needed equipment for our department. In closing, I would like to thank the dedicated Fire and Rescue members for always being there, Town Manager Keith A Bergman, the Board of Selectman, Fire Inspector Ed Schneiderhan and all other Town Departments and the citizens of Provincetown for their continued cooperation and support. A special thanks to Deputy Town Accountant Babe (Irene) Silva, and to my Secretary Joyce Mathews, I just couldn't do this job without her.
Respectfully submitted,
Fire Chief