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Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH

= Develop, implement, and manage a Professional Development Program for Nashua Fire Rescue.
Officers who fail to learn leadership skills are challenged almost immediately upon promotion. As
detailed in the Career Development section of this report, both Nashua Fire Rescue and its
employees stand to gain from the development and implementation of a Career Development
Program.

It is worth noting that morale, communication, accountability, and training are deep-seated issues that
permeate the culture of Nashua Fire Rescue. In 2001, Municipal Resources, Inc. completed an Organizational
Assessment, which included a survey of Nashua Fire Rescue members that yielded very similar results. Almost
20 years later, those issues still remain unresolved. These issues will continue to degrade until Nashua Fire
Rescue and the City of Nashua commit the necessary resources to address these problems.

ESCI recognizes that this report contains a multitude of recommendations that cannot all be accomplished
simultaneously. Nashua Fire Rescue should facilitate a Strategic Plan to consider and prioritize the goals and
objectives that are recommended within this Master Plan.

The strategic planning process would ideally result in a three-to-five-year work plan, intended to guide the
work effort of the entire organization toward a common set of goals and objectives. The process should
include representation from every major interest group in the organization. Each person in the Department
should feel that their interests are represented by someone in attendance on the planning team.

Asuccessful strategic planning process will result in a plan for Nashua Fire Rescue to systematically implement
the recommendations that are contained within this report. Organizations that do not engage in the strategic
planning process often fail to benefit from the master planning process because Master Plan
recommendations co little more than exist in the report if they are not implemented.

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Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH

Section |. Introduction

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ESCI would like to thank the members of Nashua Fire Rescue as well as the elected and appointed officials of
the City of Nashua for their assistance with the Nashua Fire Rescue Master Plan. This project would not have
been possible without their support.

EMERGENCY SERVICES CONSULTING INTERNATIONAL TEAM

The ESCI Team for the Nashua Fire Rescue Master Plan was comprised of the following members:

Stuart McCutcheon, Director of Business Intelligence
Mary-Ellen Harper, Director of Operations
Andrea Hobi, Business Manager
Melissa Vazquez Swank, Quality Assurance Specialist
Otto Drozd, Associate
Michael Gulino, Associate
Dan Machande, Associate
Kerri Reynolds, Associate
Jason Smedick, Associate

Michael Tucker, Associate

PROJECT METHODOLOGY
The City of Nashua contracted ESCI to develop a Long-Range Fire Department Master Plan. Specifically, the
project has three primary deliverables:

1. Evaluate current operational service delivery. Using information provided by Nashua Fire Rescue,
ESCI was tasked to establish an informational baseline, benchmark emergency operations
performance, and provide a detailed analysis of existing conditions and emergency operations.

2. Identify future service delivery needs. ESCI was tasked with providing a basic community risk
assessment to identify potential service gaps and redundancies, considering community
expectations, needs, and resources.

3. Provide recommendations for operational service delivery. ESC| was tasked with identifying
system strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for a SWOT analysis and developing
recommendations to improve and enhance emergency services delivery for both the intermediate
short-term and long-term. Where possible, recommendations were to include consideration of
cost/benefit analysis, benchmarks, standards, and best practices.

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Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH

Using organizational, operational, staffing, and geographic information system (GIS) models, this evaluation
provides a comprehensive appraisal of the City of Nashua's emergency operations as found upon ESCl’s
completion of fieldwork and data collection in July 2020. ESCI based this evaluation on data provided by the
City and collected during ESCI’s fieldwork. The information is evaluated against a combination of New
Hampshire state laws and regulations, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, Commission
on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) self-assessment criteria, health and safety requirements, federal
and state mandates relative to emergency services, and generally accepted best practices within the
emergency services community, as well as the experience of ESCI’s consultants.*? Each section in the
following report provides the reader with general information about that element, as well as observations
and analyses of any significant issues or conditions.

STAKEHOLDER INPUT
The ESCI project team conducted more than 22 virtual and in-person interviews, meetings, and facility tours
to gather information from key stakeholders to provide context for the recommendations identified within
this study. The purpose of these interviews is to gain an understanding of the current issues, concerns, and
opinions related to Nashua Fire Rescue’s emergency services delivery system. General topics discussed
during each interview included:

= Perceived strengths and weaknesses of the current system
" Identified strengths and weaknesses of the current system
" Opportunities for enhancement to the current system

= Future challenges that may warrant attention

ESCI’s interviews with Nashua Fire Rescue stakeholders included, but were but not limited, to the following
individuals:

Figure 1. Stakeholder Input

Stakeholder Interviews

Mayor
Members of the Board of Aldermen
Members of the Board of Fire Commissioners
City Directors and Key Staff
Fire Department Executive Staff
Fire Department Division Heads
Uniformed Members of Nashua Fire Rescue
Automatic and Mutual Aid Partners

Emergency Medical Services Partners

1 NFPA, National Fire Protection Association is a standard developing organization. Standards developed by NFPA are "voluntary
consensus standards," created through procedures accredited for their consensus decision-making, openness, balance of interests
represented, and fairness by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

2 The CFAI organization is now a subsection of the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) but maintains its prime function of
accrediting fire agencies.

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Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH

Section II. Community Profile and Risk Identification

NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Nashua, New Hampshire, is located on the southern border of New Hampshire in Hillsboro County. The city
is 31.9 square miles and houses the second largest population in the state. The city was first settled in 1653
and was originally part of a 200 square mile area called Dunstable that included Nashua as well as ten other
towns in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

After the governors of the two states resolved a dispute over the border location in 1741, approximately half
of the land area remained in the State of New Hampshire and kept the name Dunstable. Dunstable was then
incorporated in 1743 and renamed Nashua in 1836. Nashua was again divided in 1842 when the parcels
located on the north side of the Nashua River were established and the community of Nashville and became
incorporated. In 1853, these two communities rejoined and were incorporated into the present-day City of
Nashua.

Figure 2. The City of Nashua, New Hampshire

@ Fire Station hi i
D Nashua Boundary ‘i , ’
["] _ Fire Districts :

5 ;

Nashua Fire Rescue, New Hampshire

ities

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Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH

The following communities and rivers border the City of Nashua.

Figure 3. Nashua’s Borders

Border Direction

Merrimack North
Pennichuck Brook North
Litchfield Northeast
Dunstable South
Tyngsborough, MA South
Merrimack River East
Hudson East
Hollis West

NASHUA FIRE RESCUE

Nashua Fire Rescue was established in 1853 when the towns of Nashville and Nashua combined to protect a
growing mill town with 7,000 mostly immigrant workers. The Department was organized as a volunteer fire
department and transitioned to being a career fire department in the 1950s.

Governance and Lines of Authority

The City of Nashua operates under a Mayor-Alderman form of government. The Board of Aldermen is a 15-
person legislative body that is elected to either a two- or four-year term. There are six at-large aldermen that
are elected to four-year terms (with three of these elected in opposite cycles every two years). Each of the
nine wards has an elected alderman whose terms are two-years. The position of Mayor is elected every four
years.

The Board of Fire Commissioners is the elected board charged with the responsibility of the operation of the
fire department. The City of Nashua Charter is the foundational policy document for the establishment and
operation of the Fire Department. Specifically, Subpart A §73. Fire commissioners, how chosen. This document
establishes the Board of Fire Commissioners. This is a five-member board, and each is an elected position.
Each term is four years, and they are elected every two years.

According to this chapter, the Board shall exercise all powers and perform all the duties that the laws and
ordinances now prescribe, or will be hereafter.

In Subpart B-Related Laws §§ A-101-A-1214 of the same document, Chapter 7 provides additional legislation.
Chapter 7. Fire Department, states in summary that the fire department of the City of Nashua shall consist of
a Board of Fire Commissioners. These are elected officials (as indicated in §73), and they cannot hold any
other municipal office. The Board of Fire Commissioners will select one member to serve as the chairperson
of the Board. They will also select a clerk. The Board is responsible for making rules and regulations for their
own government and the government of all other officers and members of the fire department. In addition,
they are responsible for all buildings (including the land) and apparatuses.

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Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH

Organizational Design

Nashua Fire Rescue operate six fire stations, a dispatch center, and a training site. The Fire Chief is the head
of the Department who oversees:

Administration Division: Assistant Chief and two Administrative Assistants

Emergency Response Division: Four Deputy Chiefs, seven Captains, 29 Lieutenants, and 112
Firefighters

Training Division: Captain, Lieutenant, Administrative Assistant
Fire Alarm Division: Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, 12 Dispatchers
Mechanical Division: Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Mechanic

Fire Marshal Division: Fire Marshal, two Inspector/Investigators, Administrative Assistant

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Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH

Figure 4. Nashua Fire Rescue Organizational Chart

Board of Fire
(Oye ele

Fire Chief

Administrative Administrative
Assistant Assistant
XS ela
Fire Chief

T T
ee Fire Marshal Training and Fire Alarm Mechanical
Seton Paola) Safety Division Paola) Division

1 Deputy Chief i

and 1 Shift
Management

T
Training
Captain

Superintendent Superintendent
Technician Per | |
Shift
A shift Administrative Administrative Assistant Assistant
CS) Assistant Assistant Superintendent Superintendent
So 2 Inspectors/ Training i; 3 Dispatchers
members per shift, Investigators Lieutenant eae
including

-—

Cup)

1 Captain per
tation per shift and
1 Officer (Captain
or Lieutenant) per
apparatus per shift

(4 shifts)

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Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH

COMMUNITY RISK ASSESSMENT

A Community Risk Assessment provides an assessment of risks and potential risks present in the service area.
Mitigation of risks through internal and external resources is developed over time, improving the response,
recovery, and resilience of the community. Unless otherwise specified, all population and demographic
information is propriety data provided by Earth Systems Research Institute (ESRI).

Population

The population in the City of Nashua is 90,972. This includes 37,124 households with an average of 2.4 people
per household.

Figure 5. Population and Households

90,972

The city’s population is educated, with 91% of the population having graduated from high school (compared
to 92.9% statewide and 87.7% nationally) and 36% of the population has a Bachelor’s Degree or higher
(compared to 36.5% statewide and 31.5% nationally).

Figure 6. Education

EDUCATION

A

No High 26% 28% 36%

School
Diploma High School Some College Bachelor's/Grad
Graduate /Prof Degree

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Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH

Demographics
The racial makeup of Nashua is predominately white (73.2%), followed by Asian (8.4%), and Black or African
American (4.1%).

Figure 7. Racial Makeup

1.6%

8.4%

4-1%

12.7%

73-2%

«White «= Hispanic = African American Asian = Other

Population Trends

The population in Nashua has increased by 60.52% since 1970. The largest population increases were in the
1970S, 1980s, and 1990s. The city saw a slight decline in population between 2000 and 2010 and saw an
increase of 3.59% during the last decade.

Figure 8. Population Trends?

100,000 25%
90,000
80,000 20%
70,000 15%
60,000
50,000 10%
40,000
30,000 5%
20,000 0%
10,000
04 1.5%

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

El Total Population =—=Percent Change

3 Population Trends According to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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