Longmeadow Fire Chief John Rigney, pictured here in a file photo from a previous Select Board meeting, advocated for a larger roster and an increase to ambulance rates at a Sept. 15 meeting.
Reminder Publishing file photo
LONGMEADOW — Longmeadow Fire Chief John Rigney delivered what he called the Fire Department’s “state of the union” at the Sept. 15 Select Board meeting.
The presentation included a request for more personnel and a 2.5% increase in ambulance rates.
Including Rigney and Deputy Chief Andrew Markt, the Fire Department is staffed by 26 full-time firefighters, 20 of whom are also paramedics. The other six are trained EMTs. Rigney explained that the department is structured with three teams of six firefighters and one team of five. Each team works 24-hour shifts, with either two or four days off between shifts.
Select Board member Andrew Lam asked if 24-hour shifts were the best structure for the department. Rigney explained that the department switched to 24-hour shifts about 15 years ago. They found that firefighters who work 10- or 12–hour shifts will work a second job during their off time, causing them to be more tired when they report for their shift. A 24-hour shift keeps firefighters fresh and focused when on the job and allows them time to seek other employment on their days off. The system works so well, he said, that Springfield is the only municipality in the area that does not use 24-hour shifts.
Rigney said the department was proud to take an “all hazards approach.” The department will answer any call, “from cats in trees” to structure fires, he said, later adding, “In Massachusetts, if you call me for a hangnail and you want to go to the hospital, I can’t tell you no.” Requests for an ambulance and medical assistance account for 70% of the roughly 3,000 calls received by the Fire Department each year, but Rigney said the department will help with any issue they can.
Receiving so many medical calls is beneficial to the department in some ways, but also has consequences. When an ambulance transports a patient to the hospital, the town charges that person, or if applicable, their insurance company for the transport. That money then helps to fund the department’s ambulance service.
In FY22, ambulance receipts brought in $884,935. Last year, ambulance receipts totaled $1.28 million in revenue, $232,547 over what was projected. For FY26, they are on track to bring in $1.6 million in receipts. This is partly due to a dramatic increase in calls over that same period, from 602 calls in 2022 to 3,600 estimated by the end of this year. Medical calls are up 32% and the number of calls resulting in transport to a hospital has nearly doubled.
Additionally, Rigney said the town’s Fire Department has drastically decreased the number of calls it loses to mutual aid — ambulances from other towns that respond when Longmeadow cannot — and increased the number of mutual aid calls it has answered. The downside to more calls is that the department must have enough firefighters and paramedics to respond when there are overlapping calls.
Staffing
Rigney shared a chart that showed the calls received by the department on Aug. 22, when a five-person shift was scheduled. Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., there were three sets of overlapping calls, with three calls overlapping in the 3 p.m. hour alone. The issue is less severe with six-person shifts, he said.
Emergency room wait times have exacerbated the issue, Rigney said. Fire Department personnel must sometimes wait up to 40 minutes to hand their patients off to hospital staff. “Hospitals are jammed more than ever,” he said. “Some of it is the aging population.” The wait times keep the ambulance occupied and the firefighters from being available to respond to other calls. There have been multiple days when only one person is left at the fire station to answer an incoming call, which leaves them waiting for mutual aid, Rigney explained.
To address the department’s immediate staffing issue, Rigney requested two additional full-time-equivalent firefighters. Looking at the larger issue, he said the department must develop a long-term staffing plan to support the department’s “all hazards approach.”
Rigney said, Springfield has 19 firefighters for every fire call. While recognizing that Longmeadow is not in the same position as the city, he said, “They are better prepared to have a fire than we are. We have a lot more to offer our community,” but the department needs more staff to do so.
Select Board member Shelly Maynard-DeWolf said that residents do not see evidence of the challenges faced by the department, which is a “testament” to how well it is handling them. Select Board member Dan Zwirko told Rigney that he made “a compelling case” to expand the department by two full-time equivalent positions.
As with most municipal departments, the lion’s share of the Fire Department’s $3.28 million budget — $2.64 million — is spent on salaries and overtime. The chief assured the Select Board that the department was doing everything possible to limit its expenses.
Rigney said the department has sought out all possible grants to help offset other areas of the budget and has been awarded state and federal grants totaling $627,708 since 2018. Referring to various gear and apparatus, Rigney said, “You name it, we’ve been able to supplement” or “replace equipment” with grants. Nonetheless, the department’s capital needs present challenges beyond what grants can cover and some grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been restricted or eliminated this year. “The grants are going to run out,” Rigney said.
While $65,000 was budgeted for apparatus maintenance last year, the department spent $114,737 on repairs and maintenance. Between FY27 and FY29, the Fire Department expects to need to replace a support car, a fire engine, an ambulance, firefighting gear, breathing apparatus for use in toxic and smoke-filled environments and a machine that cleans toxic materials from firefighter turnout gear. “Each piece of gear we wear is about $5,000,” Rigney said.
To save money on capital expenses, Rigney suggested two options. The first is to “rechassis” the apparatus, instead of completely replacing it. He said removing the body of an ambulance or fire truck from its damaged or outdated frame and mounting it on a new one can save up to $150,000 per apparatus. The second option is to use a lease-to-purchase model instead of purchasing the apparatus outright.
Rigney said the department needs an additional $105,000 to fund the extra firefighters. Pointing to nearly $250,000 in ambulance receipts over what was projected last year, he said, “The money is there.” Considering comparable ambulance calls, Longmeadow’s rates are slightly higher than the average in Western Massachusetts, but about $300 less than the average rate for the top 50 ambulance services in the state.
Rigney also emphasized that raising rates will not affect people on Medicare or Medicaid. Ambulance rates for those covered by these plans are capped. Lam pointed out the cost of an ambulance ride is pre-agreed upon when people sign up for private insurance plans each year. The insurance companies would absorb the cost in the short term, although the insurance companies may limit what they are willing to pay.
Rigney agreed, saying that when people owe money from an ambulance rife it is usually because they have not yet met their deductible.
The ambulance rate must be balanced against what people will pay. “I don’t want to get to a point where people don’t call an ambulance because they can’t afford it.” Rigney said. For that reason, he suggested a 2.5% increase.
Lam said 2.5% keeps pace with inflation. He also noted that investing in the ambulance service is a good return on investment, since it makes money for the town, whereas fire calls do not generate revenue.
Select Board member Vineeth Hemavathi said that he trusted the chief’s recommendations. Because the Select Board listened in 2023 when Rigney and then-Chief John Dearborn recommended raising salaries to stem the flow of staff leaving for other departments, Longmeadow has eliminated its high turnover problem, he said. The department has not lost a firefighter in 18 months, said Rigney.
The board did not vote on Rigney’s proposal.
