East Longmeadow Fire Chief Christopher Beecher and Deputy Fire Chief Edward Linehan meets with the Town Council at its meeting on June 9.
Photo credit: ELCAT01028
EAST LONGMEADOW — The East Longmeadow Town Council unanimously voted to support the Fire Department’s pursuit to obtain a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant that helps increase staffing after a “particularly difficult” fiscal year, according to Fire Chief Christopther Beecher.
The grant, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, provides financial assistance to help the department’s increase frontline firefighters through hiring firefighters and recruiting and retaining volunteers.
Beecher and Deputy Fire Chief Edward Linehan discussed the department’s current situation and the FEMA grant at the Town Council meeting on June 9.
Beecher said that the department has hit unique staffing situations over the past year and a half after it changed its minimum shift staffing from five to six in October 2024. He said the change was manageable and made sense for safety and service to the town.
The department is currently down about 23%, or six members, with only two projected to return by the end of summer.
The grant would increase staffing and minimize cost over a three-year period if the department is approved by FEMA. The first two years pick up 75% of base pay and benefits, while the third year picks up 65%. The town would be responsible for pay and benefits from the fourth year and on.
“What we encountered shortly after was kind of a string of anything from injured on duties to longterm illnesses, things like that,” Beecher said. “It kind of put a strain on the ability to maintain a six person minimum, but we kept doing it. I carried it over fiscal year 2026, I didn’t want to go below that six person minimum.”
Beecher added that the overtime budget is taking a hit from at least two shifts being backfilled everyday, which is filling a position for an absent employee. The department is also forced to call in staff on their days off when it can’t find volunteers, which happened 34 times in April, 52 times in May and 18 times in June so far.
“It’s incredibly taxing on our people,” Beecher said. “We’re literally forcing them in and now they’re getting to the point where they have to call in sick because they’ve worked so much that they’re coming into a point where it affects their health. We’re just at a point now where a six person minimum with a seven person maximum is not sustainable.”
Beecher said the department hopes to add four members through the grant, which brings the shift maximum to eight members and reduces the backfill issue and the amount of EMS callbacks.
“For the well-being of our people, the deputy and I certainly feel this is necessary,” Beecher said. “Our call volume doesn’t sustain the amount of people that we have right now. Our ambulances are out of the building at the same time constantly, it leaves two members back in the station … the constant backfilling, the overtime, it’s taking a toll on all of our folks.”
Councilor Marilyn Richards asked Beecher what his expectation with four additional members would be and he said recruiting wouldn’t take place until the grant is released in September. He added that his goal would be to get people in at the start of November.
“The SAFER Grant is our long term plan, that’s how we’re trying to get our staffing increased consistently,” Beecher said. “With the amount of injuries that we have now, we need to fix that short-term gap between now and November.”
A potential solution for that short-term gap would be per diem paramedics, who would be called when the department can’t find staff through volunteers instead of calling in staff on days off. Beecher said this also creates a pool of paramedics that could potentially be hired full-time if the department gets the grant.
Councilor Jim Leydon asked Town Manager Tom Christensen if this was sustainable, and Christensen confirmed it was.
“When you look at what’s going to come off the payroll and overtime and you look at what this is going to do for the department, not only the people but the budget on a four-year scale, we probably won’t even notice,” Christensen said. “Sort of akin to the electric bill at the high school, we’re going to phase that in and by the time we get there, you’re not going to notice the blip because we’ve gotten there slowly. This is almost the same exact arc and I think it’s only going to make it all better.”
Councilor Ralph Page said he knows stress is extreme for firefighters and that taking a little bit of the workload off is worth pursuing the grant. He said four employees is a “good chunk of money,” but that it can be sustainable and something to invest in.
Councilor Anna Jones asked if there was a plan in case the grant is denied and Beecher said the per diem program could hopefully “plug that hole” and three firefighters will hopefully be returning in the fall.
Christensen noted that if the grant were denied, adding one position each year for the next four years will bring the same budget number. The grant just brings the four positions at a quicker pace.
The Town Council voted unanimously to approve the Fire Department’s grant application, which is due for submission to FEMA by June 22.
