The following letter was sent to Wilton’s Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance, and later shared with GOOD Morning Wilton.
To the Editor:
For those of you who do not know me or recognize my name, I am Gary Mandel, President of Local 2233, IAFF, Wilton Fire Fighters. Local 2233 is the union representing the firefighters of the Town of Wilton who have been protecting and safeguarding the residents of Wilton and their property for over 50 years.
As I have said to you in my previous communications, Local 2233 would like to thank you for your dedication and commitment to the residents and to the betterment of the Town of Wilton. We owe the boards gratitude for recognizing the safety risks and showing the courage to add the new firefighters to last year’s budget in the face of significant monetary headwinds. I want to stress that you approved a budget to add firefighters. I would like to briefly state to you the benefits of that courageous decision and what is at stake in completing the hiring. I would like to start by addressing what I describe as a false narrative that started last year and to my dismay, based on a recent article in the press, seems to be continuing into this budget season.
I will, as always, maintain a civil, mature and thoughtful level of discourse in my comments. We all have the same objective and that is the safety of the residents and their families, the protection of their property, and the safety of the firefighters.
During the fiscal [year] ’26 budget season, there were robust conversations and analyses in connection with additional firefighting staffing.
As was discussed last year, the last change to staffing levels was 25 years ago. On an instinctive, common-sense level, one could easily conclude that staffing levels must be well behind the level they should be at.
To support that conclusion, the Fire Department presented the case through power points, submissions of statistical information, responses to questions, and submission of additional information as requested. I want to stress that all the information requested was provided, and all the questions asked were answered. The Fire Department is fully equipped and is in the best position to provide that information and responses to any requests. This should be obvious as the BOS overwhelmingly voted in favor of the additional staffing.
If further due diligence was needed before voting on the matter, the Board would not compromise its fiduciary duty by voting. For a minority to suggest that there are open questions or information that has not been provided is quite frankly unfair and irresponsible to the process.
As a result of the approved budget and vote of the residents, two new firefighters were to be added. To be more accurate, one firefighter was hired, the other one will be hired in the next few months. As you know we as a group work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Every second that goes by in the year, there are firefighters on duty. To accommodate that commitment, the group is divided into four shifts — meaning a firefighter works 24 hours and then is off duty for 72 hours. On that schedule, each firefighter works well over 2,000 hours each year.
To accomplish an addition to staffing levels, each shift must be increased. That is exactly what was done 25 years ago. The obvious expectation this time around was that the approved increase would follow that modeling, i.e., a firefighter would be added to each shift. To do otherwise, would result in the residents having the approved level of staffing on duty only on certain days. Unfortunately, emergencies occur every day so adequate staffing on only some days is simply illogical.
ccordingly, I urge you to complete the courageous process started last year and add two more firefighters to the fiscal year ’27 budget. At this risk of being repetitive, if you believe staffing levels needed to be increased for the safety of the residents, you must add a firefighter to each shift and thus protect the Town and its residents on each and every day. A resident should not have to leave it to fate that an unfortunate emergency would occur on a day when there are seven firefighters on duty as opposed to six.
I am on one of the shifts that was fortunate enough to be increased with a new firefighter. I can speak firsthand about the exponential, tangible benefits that the additional firefighter provides. We are more efficient and effective with seven firefighters as compared to six. On the days when there are seven firefighters on shift, the residents and the Town are safer as are the firefighters on shift that day. To support those statements, we would welcome the opportunity to have you observe a controlled training incident, and we can point out to you, real time, the advantages with the seven-firefighter shift as compared to the disadvantages of the six-firefighter shift.
Two final statements: 1) I will send in a separate email the information that was provided to the BOS last year (all the information is public on record but in the interest of working together, I am willing to retrieve it). Moreover, I am sure if there is additional information needed, and you communicate exactly what is needed, the Fire Department can provide that information. 2) We appreciate that due to monetary constraints, a staggered hiring, like last year, may need to be implemented to equal the shifts and complete what was started.
I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and/or the Boards to discuss this especially important matter.
Thank you!
Gary Mandel
President
Local 2233, IAFF
Wilton Fire Fighters