A dispute between volunteer firefighters and the City of Norwich has resulted in the Yantic volunteer fire station being shut down for not following directives from the city’s fire chief.
John Salomone is the City Manager for Norwich. He said the city charter gives them power over their volunteer fire services.
“Chief Wilson, the career department chief, has ultimate authority over the volunteer chiefs and that’s something that the volunteer departments, at least Yantic, at this point does not recognize the charter requirement,” Salomone said. “Obeying directives from Chief Wilson is optional.”
The city’s fire chief reportedly said Yantic has “operational failures across the board,” but Salomone did not say what they were.
Both sides have appointed lawyers to resolve the dispute.
In the meantime, the City of Norwich has set up a temporary fire station near the Yantic Fire House to provide coverage.
“At this point, Yantic has more coverage than they did before,” Salomone said. “And this is not a criticism of Yantic, but we now have career firefighters in a Yantic location, which can immediately respond to an emergency situation because they’re 24/7 employees and the station is staffed around the clock.”
Approximately 160 local residents attended a recent public safety commission meeting to support the Yantic firefighters and demand an explanation for the City's actions.
