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11/07/2023 01:31 PMMADISON
Madison Hose Company 1, which has led an all-volunteer squad serving the downtown area and beyond for more than 115 years, has announced several retirements and shifts in duties among its staff. The appointments are critical for the department as they are entering a new phase of their history that will include an entire rehab of their station house that is slated to break ground next year.
According to incoming board President Travis Gulick, the new appointments and retirements reflect the growing pressure on volunteer departments to keep pace with the increasing number of alarms they respond to.
“Phil Janssen has been board president for the last 17 years, and he is stepping down from that position,” said Gulick. “Jeff Young, who has been a first lieutenant for more than a decade, will also be stepping away from that position but remaining with the department as a firefighter. Darryl Ward, who has been a second lieutenant for more than five years, will also be stepping down but remaining as a firefighter, as well as joining the board as a member.”
Other members of the department will be stepping into the vacated lieutenant positions, according to Gulick.
“J.J. Reilly has been promoted to first lieutenant. He is currently a firefighter and will be stepping into his new role,” said Gulick. “Pablo Gomez, who is a firefighter, will be stepping up into the role as second lieutenant. Tyler Haskell, a firefighter, will be joining the board as vice president, as well.”
Gulick said he is honored to take on his new role as president of the board and said a main priority will be to foster the recruitment of new firefighters. Recruitment and retention are issues that numerous fire departments across the state are currently struggling with, according to Gulick.
“It’s a great opportunity to help the company grow. We are getting a new addition, so it will be a big job to oversee that,” said Gulick. “We are excited about keeping the department moving forward and dealing with the changes that we have going on.”
Madison Hose Company, as well as many shoreline departments, has unique demands on their personnel. The downtown station has to respond to incidents on two major traffic arteries, Route 1 and I-95, which both see numerous accidents, often on a daily basis. The department also responds to marine incidents on the Long Island Sound and on the other local waterways, making for extremely complex staffing and response coordination.
According to Assistant Chief Greg Carroll, the station responded to more than 80 calls in July alone. That is almost three a day, highlighting the all-volunteer department’s crucial importance to the safety of residents and those traveling through the area.
“I think the biggest issue between the officers and the board is how to continue the volunteer fire service for the town while Madison continues to grow. We need to find out where and what those challenges are and how to work with that and manage people’s time,” said Carroll. “There is a lot more time required now for firefighters. We need to ensure our personnel’s time is used well; there is a great demand on our firefighters. We need to figure out that balance…and how we can manage that. In July and August, we had a large number of calls. In July, we responded to 81 calls, which is the most we’ve ever had in a month, so as a department, we need to manage those demands with our members’ time and availability. For guys who trying to work their day job and raise a family, it can obviously be a challenge.”
According to Gulick and Carroll, the planned addition to the Boston Post Road stationhouse will also be the new site for the town’s emergency operations center. The project will also provide space for a training center, as well as critical storage for much-needed equipment.
For more information about joining the department, visit www.madisonhoseco1.com or call 203-245-2772. Donations are also gratefully accepted; visit the site for more information on how to help.