Master Plan Nashua Fire Rescue, NH
18. Nashua Fire Rescue should modify its current alarm assignments to satisfy critical staffing functions
for fires in occupancies such as strip malls and garden apartments.
Nashua Fire Rescue does not differentiate the initial alarm assignment by occupancy. As such, a fire in
a strip mall or garden apartment, both of which NFPA 1710 recommends 28 firefighters on an initial full
alarm assignment, will each have 18 firefighters initially dispatched. It would be up to the Incident
Commander to request a “Working Fire” assignment which would increase the response from 18 to 26
firefighters. A second alarm assignment would send an additional engine and ladder truck and a total of
8 additional firefighters. The second alarm assignment would put a total of 34 firefighters on-scene for
a fire in a strip mall or garden apartment, which exceeds the 28 firefighters specified by NFPA 1710.
ESCI suggests that Nashua Fire Rescue should modify its current alarm assignments to satisfy critical
staffing functions for fires in occupancies such as strip malls and garden apartments by ensuring that
the initial full alarm assignment deploys at least 28 firefighters rather than requiring the Incident
Commander to request additional alarms to provide the appropriate number of firefighters.
Administrative Staffing
19. Nashua Fire Rescue should evaluate the potential benefits of restructuring the Administrative
Division to include an Assistant Chief of Uniform Professional Standards. This Assistant Chief would
report to the Chief of Department and be tasked with:
= Investigating all internal affairs type activities, thus removing this work from the Chief and
existing Assistant Chief. The single point of contact within the fire department as well as close
collaboration with Human Resources will better position Nashua Fire Rescue to address these types
of issues more consistently and to hold members accountable as appropriate.
= Develop and manage a communications plan for regular and consistent communications with
the Operations Division. Communication has been a critical weakness within Nashua Fire Rescue
for decades that is getting progressively worse. This problem will continue to fester, thus further
negatively impacting morale and the operations of the fire department until such a time that there
are focused resources dedicated to improving this deficiency.
« Manage the recruitment of new firefighters, thus removing this work from the Training and
Safety Division. Training was repeatedly identified as a major weakness within Nashua Fire Rescue.
The reassignment of recruitment duties to the Assistant Chief of Uniform Professional Standards
will allow the Training and Safety Division to focus their efforts on improving the Nashua Fire
Rescue Training Program.
= Oversight of the Nashua Fire Rescue Training Program. As previously noted, training was
repeatedly identified as a major weakness within Nashua Fire Rescue. Placing the Training Safety
Division under the direction of the Assistant Chief of Uniform Professional Standards will provide
the oversight that is necessary to establish and then achieve simple, manageable, achievable,
reasonable, and timely (SMART) goals to systematically improve the Nashua Fire Rescue Training
Program.
¢ J Emergency Services
ESC) Consulting International 147
