Connecticut Volunteer Fire Department Shuts Down

I understand that there is talk of a protest due to the shutting down of the Yantic Volunteer Fire Department on Wednesday February 25 '26 only a few blocks from Norwich Fire Headquarters.
 
A statement on Facebook from Yantic FD

Statement from Norwich’s Volunteer Fire Department Chiefs (Yantic, Taftville, Occum, Laurel Hill) on City Manager Salomone’s Press Release Regarding Response Times:

On the City’s Data

The City has locked the volunteer departments out of historical records, leaving no way to independently verify the data or how it was compiled.

Additionally, volunteers often respond directly to the scene with medical training and equipment, including AEDs. The on-scene times for a privately owned vehicle (POV) are never logged, and reported times do not reflect this. The City is only logging the apparatus.

A paid crew waiting in a station will naturally post slightly faster turnout times than volunteers responding from home or work. Even so, the City’s own numbers show that Yantic’s response times were comparable and met or exceeded the standard for a volunteer response. Based on the City’s release, numerous calls do not appear to meet NFPA 1710 benchmarks for career departments.

Litigation

The litigation remains active and focuses on Charter compliance and lawful authority, not isolated response-time comparisons.

Public Safety

We disagree that the data alone shows improved safety. Safety depends on system capacity when calls overlap — not just the speed of a single unit.

Unified Command

Volunteers have always operated within incident command and alongside career staff. The issue is not cooperation, but governance. Staffing every station with paid personnel 24/7 would be financially unsustainable and would require voter approval under the City Charter.

EMS Coverage

All firefighters are trained in CPR and basic life support. EMTs often respond in personal vehicles due to proximity and may not appear in apparatus-based data. Without access to full call records, staffing claims cannot be verified.
 
That is reported on Facebook by the Yantic Volunteer Fire Department.

The Day Newspaper printed a story tell both sides of this

I am unable to pass on that story to those who are not subscribers

The article titled:
"Norwich fire department says it gets to calls faster than Yantic"
The article says for Norwich it takes 5.6 minutes with apparatus manned by a Lt and 2 Firefighters.
While the Yantic Department it takes 7-11 minutes.

Here is that article

theday.com

Norwich fire department says it gets to calls faster than Yantic

Data released by the city department shows an improvement in response times since it took over the Yantic district.
theday.com theday.com
 
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