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07/27/2018 03:32 PMA snapshot of a year's worth of responses made by the professional volunteer North Branford Fire Department (NBFD) shows the group fielded 1,814 calls of which over 76 percent were for emergency medical incidents. Locally and as mutual aid to other towns, fire/rescue responders turned out nearly 1,900 times, including battling a combined 27 fires in town last year. The department's average response time to calls was just under seven and a half minutes. NBFD also continued advances in areas including training, public outreach and equipment upgrades.
These results,as well as items purchased, equipment updates and other highlights from the past fiscal year are discussed in a 2017-18 executive summary released July 27 by North Branford Fire Chief William Seward III (see related document). The department's leadership also includes Deputy Chief Anthony P. Esposito Jr.; Deputy Chief of Training Robert W. Colangelo, Assistant Chief of Training Mark D. Amatrudo, Fire Marshal Bert M. Bunnell Jr. and Deputy Fire Marshal John J. O'Brien.
With approximately 140 members, NBFD is comprised of Co. 1 (Capt. Jake Conway) Co. 2 (Capt. Ken Neubig) and Co. 3 (Capt. Steve Torino) for fire/rescue services; together with Ambulance Co. 4 (Capt. Kevin Lyon) as well as a Fire/Police Unit (Capt. Ed Doody). For fire/rescue calls last year, Co. 1 (North Branford, 1531 Foxon Road) had the most responses, turning out 1,112 times. Co. 2 (Northford center) turned out for 506 responses and Co. 3 (Northford Acres) had 178 responses.
"We depend upon each member of the department to answer calls for service 24/7/365, as well as the officers of these companies to provide excellent leadership," said Seward of all of NBFD's companies.
Fourteen of the 27 fires addressed in 2017-18 were building fires, including 11 fires in private dwellings. In the report, Seward notes NBFD logged a building property-save rate of over 96 percent.
Perhaps the most memorable fire of the past fiscal year was the massive blaze which leveled a large barn belonging to the Augur family at 106 Mill Road on Dec. 13, 2017. The fire broke out at approximately 5:45 a.m. inside the packed hay barn, quickly igniting into an inferno. The barn structure, which also stored tractors and equipment, was reduced to unrecognizable remains in an intense blaze that also compromised a 275-gallon oil tank and caused some 20-gallon propane tanks to explode. Firefighters contended with the morning's deep freeze and a fire whipped up by strong, gusty winds. They stretched some 2,000 feet of hose to reach the barn's location deep in a field.
Not ten days later, on, Dec. 22, North Branford firefighters rushed to the scene of a Northford barn fire at the Ferraro property on Totoket Road. The structure fire was extinguished but the barn was lost and several farm animals perished in the blaze. With two barn fires within two weeks, Seward quickly took steps to calm community fears he felt were being fanned by social media, issuing a notice that both fires had been thoroughly investigated and all causes of origin determined to be accidental.
In the 2017-18 executive report, Seward shares an aerial view of the Augur barn fire underway, taken via a drone donated to NBFD several years ago. This year, NBFD will advance its operational capabilities with an upgraded drone purchased before the end of the 2017-18 fiscal year. The department has two qualified operators.
"The new drone will enable the department to expand its operations through deploying [it] at scenes such as a lost person in wooded areas, large or complex fires that require aerial monitoring and incidents that are remote from a command post," noted Seward.
In other tech, NBFD acquired four Apple iPads for onboard ambulance use last year, and switched to a new electronic patient care reporting system, ESO Solutions, to streamline billing and reports.
Among the significant training the department participated in, Seward highlights NBFD's participation in National Homeland Security's "Stop the Bleed" campaign. The campaign teaches citizens how to assist in critical bleeding emergencies before help arrives. NBFD also trained its department members and equipped fire vehicles with eight bleed control kits to provide tactical care.
Other department training included field drills at the town's fire training facility behind Public Works, built in 2015. Over 920 firefighters utilized the NBFD training facility last year, including those from North Branford, East Haven, North Haven, North Madison, NBFD Explorers and the CT National Guard. In addition, NBFD personnel committed to other training such as classroom and online study and certifications.
"During this period, a total of 97 formal training sessions were held, accounting for 5,142 classroom/field hours," Seward notes in the report.
In one year's time, NBFD answered 1,393 calls for rescue and emergency medical service. The department's Medic Unit responded to 422 incidents as the first responder. NBFD responded to 99 motor vehicle accidents last year. In total, personnel responded to 728 medical calls and 263 trauma calls, with 732 of those responses requiring paramedic intervention.
The department established its paramedic service in 2011, and since that time, "... we have witnessed firsthand the benefits of advanced life support intervention through the return of spontaneous circulation on a number of our cardiac arrest patients," said Seward.
According to data collected by Yale New Haven Hospital, the department's 11 resuscitation attempts last year resulted in two patients discharged alive, for an 18 percent survival rate, which exceeds the national average of 8.4 percent for non-traumatic events. Not included among those 11 resuscitation attempts are lives saved by paramedics through the administration of naloxone (Narcan) to victims of opioid overdose, Seward noted.
Also in 2017-18, NBFD launched a new website (www.northbranfordfire.com), Facebook page (@NBCTFireDepartment or find North Branford Fire Department), and Twitter site (@FDNORTHBRANFORD).
"Each of these outlets are managed by department personnel focused on publishing accurate and timely information to the public," stated Seward.