Chief Scott Davis says parking the Pomfret Fire Department’s ambulance in its cramped bay at the fire station on Route 97 provides “the ultimate driver training test.”
When parked correctly, there’s less than 3 inches between the ambulance’s rear bumper and the back wall and between the front bumper and the bay’s overhead door.
“If you don’t back it in absolutely straight, you can’t shut the door,” Davis said.
Two engine tankers, a rescue truck and an aerial ladder truck also have to be parked exactly in the spaces marked for them to fit in the station.
For that reason, the volunteer department would like to build an addition to increase space for the trucks and room for training and other programs.
Davis and Fire District President Richard Huoppi said the scope of the expansion and its timing will depend on the cost of the project, which has not been determined. Huoppi said selectmen, on behalf of the fire district, have applied for a state economic development grant that could bring in up to $500,000 for the project. He said the town hopes to get word about the grant in about a month.
Huoppi said the department does not receive annual funding from the town. Residents support the department through fire district taxes, which now are eight-tenths of a mill.
Grabbing his fire helmet, boots, jacket and pants from a small rack inside the bay, Davis showed how little space there is inside the truck bay. Holding his gear chest high, Davis said a firefighter preparing to drive the rescue truck must shuffle sideways to get through the small space between the rear of the rescue truck and the back end of one of the tankers. If the firefighter takes an extra step once he’s cleared the back of the two trucks, he’ll bang his head on a closet on the side wall.
Huoppi said the approximately 3,000 square-foot station was built 35 years ago to replace two one-truck stations —one on Route 44 in Pomfret and the other in the basement of a former school at routes 97 and 44 in Abington.
Huoppi said the building originally was designed with three truck bays, but some residents complained about the cost, so it was cut to two-bays. Land was donated by the New England Laborers Training Council.
Huoppi said firefighters formed a committee three years ago to look at ways to expand the station. They considered building a new station elsewhere and expanding the existing facility. The committee toured other stations, such as Quinebaug and Chaplin, that recently enlarged their facilities.
“To gauge community support, we even brought three or four people from outside the department here, showed them our current situation and told them, ‘Tell us why we don’t need more space,’” Huoppi said. “Every one of them agreed we need to expand.”
Davis said the space constraints could increase next year. The department is scheduled to replace a 1990 1,000-gallon engine tanker. The department traditionally replaces one truck every five years, once the truck has been in service for 20 years. It wants to buy a larger tanker that carries 2,000 or 3,000 gallons, he said, because rural Pomfret doesn’t have fire hydrants.
“The more water you can get to a fire scene right off the bat, the better chance you have of stopping the fire,” Davis said. “But, if we don’t have the room to park it in the station, it does us no good.”
The addition would provide more space for training and meetings.
The department’s eight officers share a small office built off the meeting area. Davis said 38 firefighters recently attended a training program in the second-floor meeting room, which has space for about 20 chairs.
“A lot of folks had to stand up,” he said.
Davis said the department occasionally uses the auditoriums at Pomfret School or the Rectory School for training classes.
“But, to use the trucks, we still have to go outside,” he said.
