Hadley lifts hiring freeze to recruit deputy fire chief

HADLEY — Staff reductions at the Hadley Fire Department prompted by budget cuts, coupled with unanticipated departures from the roster, are creating what Fire Chief Michael Spanknebel is calling significant challenges for community safety.

“We are in a very bad way at the Fire Department right now,” Spanknebel told the Select Board and Finance Committee at a joint meeting on Feb. 4.

In response, and with unanimous votes by both panels, a townwide hiring freeze is being lifted so Hadley can recruit a new deputy fire chief. That position has been vacant since late last summer when Evan Briant departed, after seven years, to become Granby’s fire chief.

The boards also agreed to lift the hiring freeze so that a search for a new town administrator can resume. The process for that search will be discussed by the Select Board at a meeting later in February.

Police Chief Michael Mason has been in the interim town administrator role since September 2024. The initial search was paused last June when the Select Board opted against hiring any of the finalists brought forward.

For Spanknebel, elimination of two full-time firefighter/ EMT positions last fall reduced the department to six full-time firefighter/ EMTs, and adjusted the schedule so that, at times, only one full-timer is on shift.

The department currently has only four full-time firefighters, with one firefighter who was in paramedic training resigning after informing Spanknebel that she was uncomfortable with the idea of working alone, while another firefighter is out for a time after suffering a fractured wrist in a non-workplace accident.

Spanknebel said he is often the second full-time firefighter on duty around the clock and, during emergencies, the department is spread thin and relies on help from on-call firefighters. That situation happened a few hours earlier on Feb. 4, he said, when Hadley was called to assist Northampton Fire Department with a structure fire.

“We are struggling, we are in a hazardous way,” Spanknebel said. “We are putting our community at risk, that’s a fact.”

The hiring of a deputy chief would help with Spanknebel’s administrative duties, such as various inspections, and with potential succession planning should Spanknebel decide to step down from the position at some point.

Select Board Chairman Randy Izer said he understands the deputy chief is a priority, but there is uncertainty about where the money will come from, with the deputy chief position likely to have a salary range over $100,000.

Izer said the need for a Proposition 2½ tax-cap override, which failed last fall and prompted the budget cuts, still exists.

“At the end of the day, we need more money, and the only way I can see we get more money is through an override,” Izer said.

Finance Committee Chairwoman Amy Fyden said she worries about burnout among the current firefighting staff. Hiring a new deputy chief, she said, would help address that.

“I think it’s something we have to do,” Fyden said.

If the town budget can’t support the expenditure, the Finance Committee could make an appropriation from some of the $75,000 available in its reserve account.

The post Hadley lifts hiring freeze to recruit deputy fire chief appeared first on Daily Hampshire Gazette.