The Department
The Franklin Fire Department administration is led by a Fire Chief who is assisted by an Executive Assistant. The department is divided into two divisions, operations and administration, which are each under the direction of the two Deputy Chiefs. The operations division is responsible for dispatch, emergency medical services, fire suppression and hazardous materials response. The administration division is responsible for personnel, budget, training, code compliance and coordinating the Town's emergency preparedness.
Our Mission
The Franklin Fire Department offers the highest level of public safety services for our community. We safely protect lives and property of all hazards through fire suppression, training, emergency medical and transportation services, disaster and crisis management, fire prevention and public education.
Operational Objectives
■ Initiating advanced life support to patients within 10 minutes of notification of the emergency.
■ To access, extricate, treat and transport trauma patients to a level one trauma medical facility within one hour of the occurrence of the injury.
■ Interrupt the progression of fires in structures within 10 minutes of open flame ignition.
■ Provide safety and survival skills for all school students in grade K through 5 consistent with the Student Awareness Fire Education (SAFE) initiative of the Commonwealth.
■ Provide continued valuable services to the senior population with home safety inspections and smoke/carbon monoxide battery replacement.
■ Provide educational opportunities for department members to ensure optimal performance and safety.
■ To develop and maintain "best practice" to insure personnel and citizen safety.
■ Ensure fire safety through timely, consistent code compliance services to all external customers.
■ Obtain grants to fund equipment and training.
■ Provide CPR training for the community in conjunction with the town nurse.
■ Provide all department services in a manner that satisfies the needs of our customers.
Message from the Fire Chief
Fiscal Year 2023 was another active and rewarding year for the Franklin Fire Department. In fiscal year 2023, the Department responded to 5056 incidents which is an increase of 68 calls from fiscal year 2022.
This is the first time in the history of the Department that there were over 5,000 emergency responses recorded in a fiscal year. Although we are very proud of attaining an ISO 1 designation on July 1, 2022, we are committed to continue to strive to be even better and further develop our professional emergency services to the community, through our training and education programs, to meet future challenges. In addition to Fire/EMS training, the Department participated in Active Shooter Hostile Event Response (ASHER) training with the Franklin Police Department in May 2023 that will continue in the future.
Since July 2019, the Department has received $1,839,964 in grants and generous local donations. A Grant Committee, composed of department members who volunteer their time, pursue and apply for funding opportunities that can help offset department costs to the taxpayers. The Department during FY23 received grants including $632,269.18 to replace all of our portable radios, $38,964.28 for a fire prevention/investigation camera and fire extinguisher training props, and $301,279.62 for training and equipment to better respond to Hazardous Materials incidents and those requiring advanced Rapid Intervention Training (RIT) for firefighter rescue.
Ambulance transport revenue this fiscal year was $2,223,200 which was an increase of $347,988 from the previous year. In addition to revenue generated from ambulance transport billing, the Department collected an additional $212,048 from the voluntary Certified Public Expenditure (CPE) program that allows ambulance providers the opportunity to receive additional Medicaid reimbursement for services delivered to MassHealth members. The Town Council has agreed during the May 2023 budget hearings to allow the Department to staff a third ambulance during business hours in FY24 to help offset the amount of mutual aid calls into Town which will benefit the level of service in town as well as increase the ambulance transport revenue. The Department took delivery of a new ambulance in August 2022 which will allow the opportunity to have two reserve ambulances as well. The reserve ambulance at Headquarters is fully equipped and ready to respond, if the need arises, for the added approved coverage during peak hours.
On February 1, 2023 the Town Council unanimously approved the purchase of a new 100 foot Tower Ladder expected to be delivered in the spring/summer of 2025. Two new staff cars were delivered this summer for the two Deputy Chiefs. The Department is especially appreciative of the Town Council and Finance Committee for their support for the purchase of these new vehicles to maintain a reliable fleet. Additionally, the Department has an internal Health & Wellness Committee that is composed of members of the Department dedicated to improving the health and wellness of our greatest asset - our firefighters.
The Department hired four firefighter/paramedics to the Department in FY23 which maintains department staffing at 56 firefighter/paramedics which will increase to 58 firefighter/paramedics on July 1, 2023 with the approval of the Town Administrator and Town Council. The new Firefighter/Paramedics that were hired during FY23 are Victor DaCosta, Nicholas Brosseau, Kristin Krauss and Jack Lennon. All of these new firefighters have been great additions to the Department that bring along a lot of experience and we wish them a healthy and productive career. We also want to wish the best in retirement to Firefighter/Paramedic David Morris who was a 36 year veteran of the Department and retired on October 1, 2022.
The Department consistently provides community outreach throughout the Town through various programs and events including our SAFE program for our students and Senior SAFE for our seniors, high school senior project program, public fire prevention awareness/training, CPR training, fire station open houses and our very popular annual corned beef and cabbage dinner at the Franklin Senior Center.
In our budget narrative we consistently reference the three important components of an effective fire department which are well staffed, well trained and well equipped personnel. This Department once again was able to make significant strides in all three categories due to the support of the Town Administrator and his staff, Town Council, Finance Committee, business community and most importantly the general public. On behalf of the members of the Franklin Fire Department I want to thank everyone for your support. It is an honor and privilege for us to serve this community.
Respectfully Submitted,
James G, McLaughlin,
Fire Chief/EMA Director
The full Fire Dept Annual Report section is contained in this PDF.
The complete Town of Franklin FY 2023 Annual Report can be found online
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| Annual Report of the Franklin Fire Department: FY 2023 Report |
