07/20/2023
To the Webster Board of Selectmen and Residents of the Town of Webster,
In light of recent issues being highlighted within the Town of Dudley in regards to staffing, this letter serves to bring to your attention a matter that is troubling to past membership of the Webster Fire Local 170. The Chief of the Fire Dept., Brian Hickey, is systematically ruining what was once a very highly respected Fire Department in the central Massachusetts area. A few years ago, he began a systematic extermination of as many of the part-time firefighters as possible in order to further his agenda in creating a Dept. only staffed by full-time career firefighters. This is not to say that Webster does not require full-time service, it is merely to highlight the despicable methodology used to get there.
To start his attack on part-time staffing Chief Hickey created a policy targeting a small number of department personnel entailing all firefighters obtain what is called a Pro Board Certification from the State despite the fact that all those effected by the policy change were firefighters, and or Fire Officers, who completed Fire 1/2 training with either the Webster Fire’s own in house training program or the Massachusetts Fire District 7 training program (a prerequisite for hire and promotion in the department). This certification is not required by the State to be a firefighter in Massachusetts and in fact its main purpose is to assist firefighters in gaining employment in other states without having to complete their individual state fire academies should they move out of state. It would be up to individual firefighters to complete this on their own. His policy further stated that no two part time members without the certification could work the same shift, and that Fire Officers would have to give up command of their Company and be relegated to driving the fire truck (occasionally resulting in unfilled “open” shifts). This also meant that potentially a Lieutenant with 30 years on the Dept. and an impeccable record, 12 years as an Officer, would have to drive while a private with two years seniority would be in charge of the scene and the men working. One could easily question if that is putting the safety of the residents of Webster and the firefighters at risk? The policy also stated that if the certification was not obtained by July 1, 2022, a member would be terminated.
Chief Hickey also changed and manipulated hours of shifts available to part-time membership making it extremely difficult for members to fill as they often scheduled around secondary employment. This afforded the opportunity to petition to the town administrator that the part-time firefighters were not filling shifts and the Dept. needed more full-time staff (unsurprisingly it has recently been brought to our attention that this is something Chief Hickey openly mocks to select individuals still employed with the fire department).
Chief Hickey has also been successful in manipulating enough votes from the department roster (some of which were cast from personnel not members of the local 170 union or remotely active within the fire department itself) to dissolve the Local 170 Teamsters Union that had represented all members of the Dept. both full and part-time. This dissolution of the Union also meant that a running list of labor charges that had been previously filed, and deemed to have enough merit to warrant a hearing by the State Board, were dismissed (some of which included charges of intimidation and harassment).
Recently, Chief Hickey had the entire budget for part-time firefighters (consisting of roughly 20 members) fully eliminated in order to request four (4) more full-time positions which, to our knowledge, he has yet been able to fill. What this means is while the Town of Dudley is facing budgetary issues causing their current staffing crisis on their own Fire Dept., Chief Hickey PURPOSELY eliminated part-time staff. In layman's terms, with the current staffing a fire/rescue call in the Town of Webster will get a 3-4 firefighter crew response with no back-up as part-time staff has been eliminated and the other full-time personnel, by and large, do not reside in town. A second truck to a structure fire or multiple calls at once may be 20 or more minutes away or potentially not available at all. In scenarios where seconds count, this should be unacceptable to the residents of Webster.
Lastly (to highlight character), a retirement party for 3 long time members of the Department was recently held. Two Lieutenants and one driver/operator who were forced to retire before being terminated were honored. The Chief never post anything advertising the party on the Dept's page, or anywhere else. The most disturbing part of it all is that he did not even attend the party. These three men had a combined 97 years of service to the Town of Webster. For a Chief of the Department to not show up is a slap in the face to those men and all those they served with and is quite frankly disgusting.
All this being said, we feel it is important for the residents, and town officials, to truly know who is leading what is supposed to be a Department filled with Honor, Tradition, and Brotherhood. It is our hope that whenever requests for money or staffing for the Fire Dept. are received that a thorough examination of the request and its ramifications is completed for the Town may not be getting the service it deserves and certainly not the leadership either.
Thank you for your time.
