Judge Warns of Impending Public Safety Crisis in Coventry Fire District

Superior Court Judge Brian P. Stern on Wednesday issued a stern warning that the Coventry Fire District is approaching a public safety crisis and residents could be without fire protection in the imminent future.

The judge issued an order that state emergency and revenue officials be notified that fire and rescue protection might end soon and set a Thursday hearing date for lawyers for the firefighter’s union to appear.

The judge said he wants to find out if firefighters in the district will continue to work without pay. So far they have gone 40 days without a paycheck.

Yesterday, Coventry Credit Union froze the district’s bank accounts, adding another layer of problems to the district, which has been in crisis mode for several months following the revelation that the district’s books were a mess and a prior fire board that oversaw the district failed to address serious budget problems in a timely fashion.

Coventry Credit Union is owed about $465,000 . And that’s just one slice of the overall pie -- the district began the year with a deficit of more than $600,000, according to Board Chairman Frank Palin.

It does not appear that there is any backup plan in the event the district completely crumbles. Firefighters in Coventry have been calling for a town-wide fire department and the elimination of fire districts, but political forces in this town present a major obstacle for such a consolidation.

The Coventry Town Council has demonstrated an unwillingness to get involved in the fire district’s woes, despite ultimate responsibility for public safety falling on the town.

There is also a movement to outsource fire and rescue service to for-profit companies, which the union said would cost taxpayers more in the long run. They also would bill residents for ambulance runs.

Earlier this year, voters in the district indicated they’d prefer to liquidate the district in a nonbinding referendum.

The lack of effort on the part of elected officials to take an active role in the fire district’s problems prompted the head of the state Department of Revenue to fire off a letter warning that their hands-off approach could backfire in disastrous fashion.

Many firefighters have chosen to quit, retire and find jobs outside of the district in an effort feed their families.