Police, fire departments look ahead to new building, equipment needs

Officer McKenzie Mattingly discusses the equipment needs for the members of the Flex Team, the special response team with members from the Bardstown Police Department and the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Thursday, March 10, 2016 — With the city’s growth and the continued development of its full-time fire department, its time that the Bardstown Police Department and the Bardstown Fire Department explore locating a new home for the city’s emergency services.

The discussion was on the agenda for the The Bardstown City Council’s Safety Committee meeting Thursday evening.

With a five-man crew on duty round-the-clock, the existing fire department has run out of space, according to Charles Montgomery. The department has resorted to turning storage space into bedrooms for firefighters.

Charles Montgomery discusses the height restrictions involved with the existing fire department building at City Hall. The low ceiling means new equipment must be custom-built to fit inside the building.

The fire department only has a single shower, and that means firefighters who return from a fire must wait to a turn in order to get cleaned up. This can present a health risk for firefighters if they had been exposed to substances that can be absorbed through the skin. The longer they must wait to shower, the greater their exposure.

The fire department also lacks separate bath and shower facilities for female firefighters.

The Bardstown Police Department has also run out of space, Chief Rick McCubbin told the committee.

Councilman Francis Lydian asked about federal grants that might be available for a combined emergency services building that could house both the city fire and police departments. A new emergency services building was discussed by the long-range planning committee last year, he said.

Grant funding for combined use emergency services buildings are no longer available, Montgomery said.

Another problem the fire department faces is the low ceiling height in the existing fire department.

Only two manufacturers build fire apparatus that will fit in the existing fire department building, Montgomery told the committee.

Because of the height restriction, the department misses out on buying used or demo model fire apparatus. And having a limited number of manufacturers means there’s not much room to negotiate better prices.

The height issue means when the city has to buy its next new apparatus, it will pay the full price for a custom-built engine.

“Even when we try to save money, we’re out of luck,” he said.

The city’s fire trucks are all in good shape, but are getting older. One truck is 16 years old, another 23 years old; an a third is 28 years old.

Councilman Francis Lydian said he had been told that the fire department now responds on all emergency EMS runs in the city limits.

“To me that’s more wear and tear on the fire department trucks,” he said. “We’re doing a good deed, but those trucks aren’t going to hold up much longer.”

All of the full-time firefighters are also trained EMTs, and the department has been running a pumper truck on these runs. Montgomery said the department is starting to use one of the smaller rescue trucks on EMT runs.

Lydian said he wasn’t aware the fire department was responding on emergency EMS runs,

“I wasn’t aware of it until I was asked about it by a member of the public,” he said. “The council members and safety committee need better communications.”

In February, the city fire department responded to rescue and EMS runs, according to the department’s monthly totals.

FLEX TEAM EQUIPMENT. The committee also heard a request for funding to buy rifles and other needed equipment for the Bardstown Police Department’s Flex Team, a joint special response team formed by members of the Bardstown Police Department and Nelson County Sheriff’s Office.

Bardstown Police Officer McKenzie Mattingly said that at present, the members of the Flex Team provide their own rifles. This can be a issue because neither the police department nor the sheriff’s office can insure proper maintenance of non-department issues firearms.

“The Kentucky League of Cities says there’s a liability issue with officers using their own personal weapons,” Mattingly said.

Departmental rifles can be maintained and used according to specific guidelines.

Mattingly said rifles are an important tool for the Flex Team because of their improved accuracy. The accuracy of handguns decreases with distance, he said.

The Flex Team also requested funding for non-lethal devices like flash-bang and gas devices, which are additional tools the officers use.

In the event someone is barricaded in a home and is shooting at officers and putting the public at risk, non-lethal devices can be used to bring the situation to an end.

“That’s a much more successful resolution from our standpoint versus if our only tools are our sidearms or rifles,” Mattingly said. “We’re all about using as many tools as we can to bring any kind of tactical situation to a peaceful resolution.”

Mattingly also said the Flex Team will request funding for some communication equipment.

The Flex Team equipment request will be part of the police department’s 2016-17 budget. The request will be to fund equipment for the seven city police officers on the Flex Team.

Committee Chairman Bill Buckman noted that the sheriff’s office will need to come up with the costs to equipment their officers who are on the team.

NEXT UP. The safety committee’s next regular committee is 5 p.m. Thursday, June 9, 2016, in the mayor’s conference room at Bardstown City Hall.

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