By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

Fire Chief Frank Carpentino has publicly complained about his difficulty in meeting department staffing requirements, but letters recently sent to The Goffstown News say the problem may be of Carpentino’s own creation.

“Five years ago there were approximately 80 call firefighters on the force … back then there was a waiting list to get on weekends,” said one anonymous letter.

“In the course of (Chief Carpentino’s) employ with the department, he has implemented so many rules and regulations that it is impossible to be a call firefighter in the town of Goffstown,” said the letter.

The letter bears no name, and is signed, “Named withheld due to current status with the department and fear of retribution.”

When presented with the letter, Carpentino said all of his requirements of the call force have been done with the force’s own approval, as well as that of the board of selectmen.

Also, he said many of the rules implemented during his administration have been in effect long before he joined the department in August 2003.

“I haven’t rammed anything down anybody’s throat,” Carpentino said.

“Anybody who wrote an anonymous letter to the newspaper complaining about me is a coward,” he said.

The controversy surrounding Carpentino stems largely from a series of e-mails the chief sent to town officials and other fire departments in July.

In one of those e-mails, titled “Disgrace,” Carpentino said the fire department was unable to meet a request for mutual aid from neighboring Bedford.

In another message, sent to five neighboring fire chiefs, Carpentino wrote that Goffstown would have no fire or EMS coverage whatsoever for the weekend of July 29.

Goffstown would rely exclusively on mutual aid for fire coverage that weekend, Carpentino wrote.

He said such instances reflect his difficulties in providing full weekend coverage. However, he said these difficulties do not stem from excessive requirements he’s set as fire chief.

Carpentino said that all changes he made to call force requirements were done so with the input of call force members.

The chief provided The Goffstown News with several e-mails he sent to members of the call force in late 2003 and early 2004 to illustrate the point.

In one e-mail, dated Dec. 22, 2003, Carpentino sent members of the call force 12 revised policies on topics including training, equipment and evaluations.

Carpentino asked call force members to make comments and suggestions regarding each of the revisions.

After taking input from call firefighters on the revisions, department officials made some policies and requirements less stringent than some call firefighters had suggested, said Deputy Chief Mark Hurley.

“We watered down a lot of what was asked for,” Hurley said.

Most of the policies Carpentino enforces have long been department requirements, he said.

For example, he said 1998 regulations require all firefighters to undergo physicals within 60 days of notification and that department vehicles obey posted speed limits except in cases of advanced life support ambulance calls.

Also, he said a rule requires that anyone covering a station during a weekend must be certified to drive all vehicles at that station.

Carpentino said the work and training schedule he requires of weekend firefighters may also be the cause of some dissent among the ranks.

“Weekend duty doesn’t mean you come in here and put your feet up all weekend,” Carpentino said.

Under the current staffing program, the fire department’s three stations are manned by 14 full-time firefighters on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The town’s 48 on-call firefighters provide coverage on evening and holiday hours, and a total of five call firefighters man the Pinardville and Goffstown Village stations from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the weekends. Call coverage for these hours was on a voluntary, sign-up basis.

Under a new policy that took effect Aug. 28, the board of selectmen has directed Carpentino to staff the stations with full-time firefighters as well as a call force if necessary.

Selectman Nick Campasano, who is the board of selectmen’s liaison to the fire department, said this measure ensures adequate staffing.

The difficulty in staffing stations on weekends may reflect a larger trend in all areas of civil service, he said.

“It’s not as easy to get volunteers as it was several years ago, because people’s lives have changed since then,” Campasano said.

Selectmen have taken several steps lately to address staffing concerns within the fire department. Some of those measures include the creation of a new “per-diem” firefighter/EMT position, as well as a committee to devise a plan for around-the-clock fire and EMS coverage.

The firefighter/EMT position is advertised on the town’s Web site as an hourly shift position for weekends and holidays, with a starting rate of $14.56 and no benefits.

The fire department planning committee is the result of a warrant article passed at the March 2005 Town Meeting.

The article, submitted by petition and passed 1,506-761, directed the board “to prepare and present a plan proposing 24-hour fire and EMS staffing of at least one fire station seven days a week.”