Chief says he’s focused on positive changes

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

Close to a month after Burlington Area Rescue Squad took its complaints to the press about City of Burlington Fire Chief Perry Howard, the chief responded last week.

Howard, sitting down with City Administrator Kevin Lahner, took the high road on the accusations made that he was essentially running roughshod with changes at the fire department, making it hard for the two groups to work together.

“There are some challenges,” Howard acknowledged. “Any time that somebody new comes into a new situation like this, and identifies areas of improvement, there will be challenges.”

Howard and Lahner both reiterated that the purpose of the changes being put in place is to create a better response for the citizens both departments serve.

“The No. 1 thing is the delivery of service to the citizens of our communities,” the fire chief explained.

Making changes

When Perry Howard came in as the first full-time fire chief in Burlington’s history in 2012, there was little doubt that changes were going to be coming down the pipeline.

After all, the city and town fire departments – along with the rescue squad – were all part of a study done that year identifying ways that the departments could better work together and serve the community as a whole.

When the results of that study were delivered, changes were almost immediately instituted.

“We have great people doing great things,” Howard said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s rescue or fire. We have a lot of fantastic people working together.

“We’re jointly doing a lot of things that have never been done before together.”

For Howard, that meant making changes like the first responder program – which allows firefighters to roll out of the firehouse to respond to a medical rescue call. They arrive on scene and handle the first minutes of care while the rescue squad pulls in a crew and then follows.

Because there are full-time firefighters at the fire station at all times, the first responders are often out the door in about a minute. The rescue squad – a volunteer effort – had been taking about five minutes.

Another change has been joint training. Howard said joint training opportunities have been put together so that not just fire and rescue can train together, but so the town’s fire department can attend.

Howard also pointed out that he has been working with neighboring agencies, with Kansasville, Burlington, Rochester and even Gateway Technical College participating in training and discussion sessions.

The goal, he says, is to get all agencies working together to improve service to the public – and make plans for the future.

Lahner called it the city’s responsibility to have “a sustainable model,” and that changes are being made to put national and state standards – as well as best practices – into place.

“Sometimes that comes in conflict with ways things have been done for several years,” said Lahner, adding that the pull of tradition within the city departments is also playing a part.

Conflict as a result

As a result, there is friction, though Howard called it “challenges” and wanted to focus on the positives.

“If you walk around every day looking for problems, you’re going to find problems,” Howard said.

He admitted that schedules have crossed on training opportunities – and also that not everyone is taking the changes as well as he could expect.

Lahner quickly added, though, that everyone needs to move beyond perceived slights.

“We are proactively working to (provide the best possible service),” Lahner said. “If folks can’t get beyond perceived slights … there’s not going to be progress,

“Our goals are very simple,” he added. “It’s my job, and the city’s job, to see the bigger picture.”

Howard said it would take time for the changes to be made, and also for people to adjust to them. In the meantime, he stressed a few important positives:

• When he started, he had four full-time people and 40 volunteers. Now he is up two volunteers, and as the first full-time paid chief, he has five paid positions.

• Five youth Explorers are working in the department, as well as three interns.

• The first responder program has improved response times.

“It’s about all of us working better together and using our resources effectively,” he said.

Lahner, meanwhile, said Howard didn’t need to “justify anything” right now, and was working under city direction (via the cooperation study) to make appropriate changes.

He also stressed the city has been “extremely transparent” about the changes it wants to make.

“We’ve got open minds and we’re trying to be sensitive to everybody’s needs,” Lahner added.