Consolidation of Stamford's Paid, Volunteer Fire Departments Upheld by State Court

Connecticut’s Appellate Court has ruled in favor of the city of Stamford in the creation of one Stamford fire department through the consolidation of the paid and volunteer fire departments, according to an announcement Tuesday by the city.

The ruling upholds the 2012 Charter revision consolidating the City of Stamford Fire Department with the five volunteer fire companies. The court heard arguments in this case earlier this year.

“The City is moving forward as one fire department,” Mayor David Martin said in a statement. “Despite multiple legal challenges thrown our way, we have won them, and will continue to implement the charter revision, which was first and most importantly approved by the voters of Stamford.”

• To sign up for breaking Stamford news alerts and more, click here.

The Appellate Court decision comes on the heels of a recent State Labor Board ruling that dismissed the majority of claims the Firefighters Union had against the city regarding the city’s agreement with the Turn of River Volunteer Fire Department implementing the Charter changes.

“This ruling reinforces what we already knew; the city is acting in the best interest of residents by creating a unified fire department,” the city’s Director of Legal Affairs Kathy Emmett said in a statement. “We want to ensure that if there is a fire in Stamford, any unit responding ultimately has to answer for their actions to the chief.”

In 2012, Stamford voters approved amendments to the Charter that established a single fire department for the entire city combining Stamford Fire and Rescue and the five volunteer fire companies into a combined fire department. The amendments give the position of Fire Chief control of the combination Stamford Fire Department and adds the position of Assistant Chief for Volunteer Services to the chain of command.

The court decision upheld the validity of the charter amendments against the volunteers’ challenge. The court said, “… we conclude that the charter amendments did not cause the Stamford Fire Department to supersede any of the volunteer fire companies.”

The three judge panel also rejected the claim that the charter revision required the volunteer companies to forfeit their rights as private corporations inasmuch as the rights they have to provide firefighting services are solely derived from the City, “…we note that the plaintiffs have identified no provision in our General Statutes or any case law that grants a private corporation . . . a right to engage in municipal firefighting activities.”