Haverhill Fire Staffing Shortage

May 4, 2023

The Haverhill City Council Public Safety Subcommittee met last night to discuss the needs of the Haverhill Fire Department, the results of the CPSM Audit, and to hear recommendations from the public, firefighters, and Fire Chief O’Brien. Unfortunately, Fire Chief O’Brien was ordered by Mayor Fiorentini to not attend the meeting. The members of the subcommittee and firefighter’s union all expressed their disappointment with Mayor Fiorentini for his action in preventing the public from hearing directly from the city’s fire chief. The members of the subcommittee and firefighter’s union all expressed similar priorities for improving funding to the fire department in coming years. Please see the list of requests Local 1011 President Carroll presented to the city council subcommittee in accordance with the study (commissioned by the mayor) findings and in continuation with what the firefighters have been requesting for years to improve Haverhill public safety, all confirmed by the independent audit. (Watch below & see the letter)

March 10, 2023

Since early 2019, the Haverhill Firefighters have been working with several city leaders to try and improve our working conditions, our safety, and the safety of the public. Many of our concerns were also echoed by Fire Chief O’Brien, the city council, and the public. In 2022, Mayor Fiorentini ordered a study be conducted of the fire department in an attempt to refute firefighter claims that the fire department was not being properly funded, equipped, and staffed. Tuesday night, CPSM presented their findings and here they are in line with what the Haverhill Firefighters Local 1011 have been saying about the Haverhill fire department; that the HFD… (please see official statement below)

Update: 06/21/2022 - Haverhill City Council Votes to further decrease Haverhill Firefighter staffing by voting for Mayor Fiorentini's budget, cutting 4 permanent Haverhill firefighter positions.

6/16/2022 The current HFD budget as proposed by the mayor. You're reading that right. This current budget as it stands, would REDUCE the minimum on-shift staff positions by 4 and adds NO firefighters to the HFD budget. This is why the Haverhill firefighters have been so involved in this year's budget. Right now, there are a minimum of 21 firefighters on duty in the city at any given time, day or night, all day, every day. Under the mayor's current proposal, the City of #Haverhill would lose 4 firefighter positions. The only additional staff currently in the proposed FY 2023 budget line items are non-firefighter civilians hired to replace firefighters, with NO guarantee those displaced positions will remain on the firetrucks. Anyone who says otherwise is not telling you the whole story. Haverhill deserves a REAL firefighter staffing increase, not a fake budget with fake firefighter costs. It's time that this administration cared more about the VALUE of firefighters, our safety, and the safety of the public! #staffingmatters

Video Description: 06/21/2022 Haverhill City Council FY2023 Budget Vote

We will be sharing more information about this meeting and the resulting vote but we thought it was important for you to see and hear Firefighter Fairbanks’ remarks to the council after discovering that the council was about to vote to reduce the Haverhill Fire Department’s minimum manning despite existing staffing shortages.

Firefighter President Timothy Carroll was unable to attend last night’s meeting and Firefighter Ryan Fairbanks filled in to answer a question posted online to the City Council about public safety.

For context, the private for-profit company the mayor hired to conduct a study, further delaying and undermining the ongoing 3-year request by firefighters for staffing, had a representative available via zoom to answer questions. This gentleman from the company hired by the mayor, was able to help Ryan make some of the points the firefighters have been trying to drive home for over 3 years regarding the Haverhill Fire Departments’ current inability to protect existing occupancies in the city.

FF Ryan Fairbanks’ remarks came just before the council budget vote against the firefighters. Ultimately, the city council voted 6 to 3 for an “on paper” increase, not adding any firefighters to the FD as a budget line-item, while practically reducing the number of firefighters on duty in Haverhill every day from 21 down to 20.

Thank you for your time and attention.

We would again like to thank Haverhill City Councilor President Tim Jordan, Council Vice President John Michitson, and Councilor Melissa Lewandowski for being the 3 councilors with us and standing with us for safer working conditions and a safer #Haverhill

Thank you HC Media, please go to their page for the remainder of the video if interested.

06/10/2022

The current effort to increase Haverhill’s dangerously low firefighter staffing levels has been on-going since 2019. Since that time, staffing levels have not increased at all. In fact, the current 2023 City of Haverhill budget actually reduces the number of guaranteed on-duty firefighter’s by removing them from the 911 Call center and not increasing the per-firetruck staffing (better known as “minimum manning” or per-piece staffing). The daily compliment of on-duty firefighters right now is a minimum of 21, though Mayor James Fiorentini’s current proposal reduces that number to 20. Under the mayor’s proposed 2023 budget, Haverhill will lose 4 firefighter positions per week unless the Haverhill City Council stands for a TRUE STAFFING increase. The cost of this true increase comes at a price-tag of only $9k per firefighter in these positions. In other words, for $9,000 a year, you can guarantee that there will always be a firefighter on the apparatus they are assigned at any time, all the time. The mayor’s current proposal would leave that position vacant every time anyone is on vacation or out for any reason.

To counter the Haverhill Firefighter’s union efforts, Mayor Fiorentini and Auditor Angel (Wills) Perkins have published and presented a “Fire Salary Analysis” which contains easily refuted false costs for hiring new firefighters. Our goal is to help Haverhill City Council see the glaring inconsistencies in the mayor’s skewed “firefighter cost estimates”. In the letter below, you will see the Haverhill Firefighter’s breakdown of how the costs presented by the mayor and city auditor could not possibly be true for many reasons; including for the simple fact that if their estimates were even remotely accurate the current Haverhill Fire Department budget would be 3 times what it current is. We ask you to stand with us and for the truth of how much a Haverhill firefighter actually costs the city and more importantly, how much value a firefighter brings to the City of Haverhill.

Please read more below.

Open Letter to the City Council on 6/9/2022

The letter sent to the Haverhill City Council on 6/9/2022 showing the inconsistencies and glaring inaccuracies with the “Haverhill Fire Salary Analysis” presented by Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini and Auditor Angel (Wills) Perkins

Images of the letter sent to the Haverhill City Council on 6/9/22

Click here to see Haverhill Firefighters Staffing Presentation 1/25/2022

Fire Doubles in Size Every 30 Seconds