Candia News : Fire Department

Candia Fire chief investigated

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:59:00 GMT

Candia Fire Chief Rudy Cartier submitted a request for a leave of absence from the department on Friday, Oct. 9, after the release of a report issued by the Rockingham County Attorney’s Office that criticized his leadership abilities.

Selectmen granted the request the same day.

Although selectmen were not prepared to discuss the situation, residents at their meeting on Monday, Oct. 13, had questions.

Cartier also made a statement, and released a five-page “initial response” letter to a summary report issued by Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams, following an investigation into the Candia Volunteer Fire Department.

The investigation was conducted at the behest of the County Attorney’s Office following investigations of several arsons in town.

In his summary, Reams wrote that “evidence suggests that the public is placed in danger by the lack of leadership of the Candia Volunteer Fire Department and the conduct

of the department.”

On Oct. 9, selectmen met to discuss the information and accepted a request for a leave of absence from Cartier. Cartier said he chose to take a leave of absence in order to review the information, handle a response and to help protect the reputation of his department.

“We have built a phenomenal cadre of people at the fire department,” Cartier said. “I don’t want them hurt. I want them to be coming out of this holding their heads high.”

Some residents at the meeting asked why Cartier wasn’t given a chance to respond before the board took action.

Cartier said in his letter that he was never given the opportunity to review and respond to the allegations and was put at a severe disadvantage to provide a balanced response as no documentation was available to him prior to the letter being released to the news media and the scheduling of a disciplinary hearing by the board.

“He has been asked to submit a request for a leave of absence, he is turning in all his property right here ... in my mind, it is like getting fired without a real good explanation for it,” resident Boyd Chivers said. “I don’t think anybody in this audience is satisfied that this has been handled properly.”

As part of the agreement Cartier reached with the town’s attorney, and which was approved by the board of selectmen, Cartier had to turn in all equipment and files to the town and is not allowed at the Fire Department.

In his letter, Cartier refutes many of the items of concern noted in the report from Reams.

Among the items was the lack of trust fire chiefs in surrounding towns have in Cartier’s command.

Cartier said he spoke with the fire chiefs of Deerfield and Raymond who informed him that they did not state this. He said he attempted to contact the Auburn Fire Chief, but his call was not returned.

Cartier also refuted a statement in the report that he is not responsive to safety concerns voiced by other chiefs.

“I have always been open to constructive criticism and take safety seriously. The issues that have been brought to my attention have always been taken seriously and action taken,” Cartier wrote in his response.

Cartier also responded to concerns in the report regarding the conduct of other firefighters in the department.

“I am at a loss as to how I can be held responsible for the actions of any town employee when they are on their own time, in their own vehicles and, in the instance of the Langford Road incident, at their own residence. I know we should always present ourselves as being ‘model citizens’, but I fail to see how off duty firefighters not adhering to this expectation is my fault,” Cartier wrote.

Cartier has been chief for the past five years and has been a firefighter for 26 years. He is also a trained fire instructor, he said.

“Rudy is an excellent chief who treats people with respect and sincerity even if they don’t agree,” resident Amanda Soares said in a post to the Union Leader Web site. “I have worked with Rudy on many town committees and have a great respect for his position and the workload he takes on for himself for the town and the fire department.”

Selectmen Chairman Fred Kelley said after Cartier has a chance to review all of the information, and confer with town counsel, it will be his decision if he wants to bring the matter back before a public meeting.

The board said it is also reviewing the information.

Recycling key to keeping costs down

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:52:00 GMT

BY TOBY HENRY

Town officials say initial department head requests total some $2.35 million as they begin to look at the expenses in store for 2009-10.

The first initial view of next year’s budget began on Sept. 13, as selectmen reviewed the budget requests from the town’s Fire Department, police, road crew and other areas. Selectman Joe Duarte said that the requests total $2,353,339, an amount about $30,000 higher than today’s budget, but he warned that some big-ticket items such as insurance have not been added into the budget yet.

According to the figures in the current budget, health insurance totals about $75,000, and Duarte said officials are anticipating a rate increase of around 25 percent or more when the new rates are finally released next month. Overall, Duarte said department heads have submitted thrifty budgets this year, with no new major spending items or unexpected work project requests to be seen so far.

But figuring largely on the minds of most officials right now is what the new transfer station costs will be, and amount that Duarte said could have a very wide variance based on two “unknowns” -- recycling levels and trash transfer costs.

The town’s former trash disposal method of burning in the incinerator essentially costs the town nothing outside of the cost of running the incinerator itself, Duarte said, but the disposal fees to landfill the town’s nonrecyclable household trash has the potential to be a very costly service for taxpayers.

So far, the requests for the transfer station total $421,969, but Duarte said there is no surefire way for official to predict exactly how much they will have to spend next year on the transfer fees. Recycling has the added benefit of decreasing the tonnage that goes into landfills as well as giving the town coffers a boost through the sale of bailed plastic, metals and other recyclables, and some officials said they hope to see residents recycle as much as $100,000 next year.

Duarte said the income from recyclables will be based on fluctuating market conditions for the prices for iron, steel and other commodities, and their values will probably change as rapidly as the cost of gasoline changes next year. Ultimately, the recycling income itself will be recycled as it goes back into the general fund, he said.

“But we have to be very careful, and we can’t rely on any particular amount of money coming in” he said. “All we can do is try and stay on top of (recycling).”

Among other budget areas, the police is the largest budget request area, with a total in $641,327 in requests. Although the amount is down from this year $686,000 in allocations, insurance figures for employee benefits have not been worked into the budget yet.

Chief Michael McGillen said yesterday that he has not put forward any requests for major projects or upgrades, although an $8,000 law-enforcement computer program could come forward as a warrant article.

McGillen said the program would outfit the new onboard computers in the department’s four cruisers with software to allow them to conduct checks of license plates, licenses and registrations on the road instead of having to relay the information via radio. He said the program would essentially eliminate the potentially unsafe roadway standby time when an officer is awaiting information on a person involved in a routine traffic stop, a situation that can be dangerous for officers in the event the person is a wanted suspect.

Fire Chief Rudy Cartier also said he doesn’t foresee any major projects form next year, and his department requests for the year total $112,460, an increase of $10,000 more than the current budget. About one-quarter of the increase is for fuel costs, and Cartier said he also requested an additional $5,500 for a project to dredge out and clean the fire pond, which provides emergency firefighting water to the downtown area.

Cartier said this important safety maintenance project has not probably not been performed during the past 25 years.

Historic statue rededicated after restoration

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:37:00 GMT

By JENN McDOWELL

Four girls from Candia finally saw their long-term community service project come to fruition with the rededication of the restored Civil War monument on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

Becky Petrin, Alicia Frazier, and sisters Erin and Megan Smith, now eighth-graders at Moore School, began the restoration project four years ago by collecting pocket change.

“We saw an article in the paper about how the monument was being destroyed, and we figured that wasn’t right,” said Erin Smith.

She added that the project was started to raise awareness in Candia about preserving historical markers and to get the community involved in something they would work on together.

“Nobody seemed to be doing anything about it, and we thought maybe if we start, then others would follow along and help,” Erin Smith said.

The girls placed collection jars around the school, town hall, library and other places around town, raising a few hundred dollars.

That’s when Dan Meehan, state commander of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, a national organization devoted to Civil War education and monument preservation, got involved.

The Sons had just finished restoring the Civil War monument in Raymond, and Meehan contacted Karen Smith, mother of two of the girls, about how the Sons could help with Candia’s project.

Meehan, a Rochester firefighter, was able to obtain two grants to help fund the project, a $10,000 state Moose grant and a $500 grant from the national Sons office.

The rest of the funding was obtained through fundraising, donations, and a warrant article passed last year to get the total $23,000 needed to restore the monument to its former glory.

Meehan said those working on the project tried to get as much money as possible without going to the town for help.

“When we go to do a project, our first thing is that we want to raise all the money. We don’t want to raise taxes,” he said.

He also got in contact with the Smithsonian Museum’s Save Outdoor Sculpture campaign. They sent Rika Smith McNally, a conservator, to restore the monument.

McNally came to Candia and did studies on the monument to determine what needed to be repaired and what materials it was composed of. The brim on the soldier’s hat was missing, as well as his thumb, and the rifle was also in disrepair. All of those items were fabricated and welded to the monument.

“When you look at the monument now, it looks brand new,” Meehan said.

Megan Smith said the project got a lot of support from the community, and the girls felt honored to be the ones who got the ball rolling.

Seeing the monument rededicated was a special moment for them, she added. “We were just so proud that we were the ones who started this and finally got it done after four years,” she said.

Meehan commended the four girls for sticking together on the project.

“For them to take pride in their town and their monument, it was phenomenal,” he said.

Lost and found

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:27:00 GMT

By JENN McDOWELL

Hooksett police found a man lost in the woods off Chester Turnpike after the man called in and reported that he was lost and disoriented.

The call came in on Sunday, Nov. 25, at 3:17 p.m., from Scott Tenney’s cell phone, according to police.

Tenney, 26, of Manchester, said he had become lost in the woods while hunting and could not find his way back out.

Hooksett Police and Fire Rescue responded to the end part of the Chester Turnpike where Tenney told police he had entered the woods.

Using the fire department’s John Deere “Gator,” an all-terrain vehicle for off-road situations, two firefighters and an officer went into the woods and located Tenney almost a mile into the trees.

Tenney was not injured, according to reports, and it is unclear how long he was lost in the woods.

Assistant Fire Chief Dean Jore said roughly two hours elapsed between the time of the call and Tenney’s discovery, but it could have been much worse.

The area of woods off the Chester Turnpike is a widely used recreational place for Hooksett and surrounding communities, Jore said, adding that hunting is a common practice in that area.

The search team was able to find Tenney quickly through his descriptions of where he entered the woods and of what surrounded him.

“What helped here was he had a cell phone,” Jore said. “He was able to give a bit more information as to where he started out and where he believed he was.”

Hooksett Police Detective Nick Pinardi said while the area is a common hunting ground, it is uncommon for hunters to get lost there because most of them know the area and know where they’re going.

He added that hunters should make sure they are prepared for such a situation should they lose their bearings in the woods.

“If they don’t have a map and a compass or GPS, everything looks the same,” he said.

Bob Martel – Scoutmaster, firefighter

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:14:00 GMT

BY JENNIFER McDOWELL

There are people in the town of Candia who will tell you that Bob Martel is one of the hardest-working, community-oriented people they have ever known.

Martel will be the first person to remind you he’s one of many in the town.

“There are a lot of other people in town who do just as much work as I do, and they deserve pats on the back too,” Martel said.

The town’s Boy Scout Scoutmaster and the volunteer fire department’s new lieutenant, Martel knows a lot about what it means to give back to the community. According to him, his wife also knows a lot about it.

“I have a very understanding wife,” Martel said, adding that without her support he would not be able to serve the community as he does.

He moved with wife, Lisa, and son, Jaymin, to Candia from Manchester, where he lived his whole life, in 1998. He bought 74 acres on High Street after selling some apartments he had owned in Manchester. “I wanted land and a good school system, and I got it here in Candia,” Martel said.

Jaymin, now 15, became involved in Cub Scouts shortly after the move. After a year, the Cubmaster decided not to continue with the program. Martel instantly stepped up, having been a Life Scout himself as a kid. Life Scout is one step below Eagle Scout.

Stepping up with him as Assistant Cubmaster was Jim Hawes, who worked with Martel for three and a half years before Martel moved up to Boy Scouts.

Hawes said Martel completely revitalized the interest in Cub and Boy Scouts in the town, an aspect of the community that had been on a rapid decline in years past. “He is tireless in his efforts to make Boy Scouts better,” Hawes said. “He’s probably the hardest-working individual you will ever meet in your life.”

During the same year, Martel signed on with Candia’s volunteer fire department after making a donation and attending a meeting of the department’s members. He carries a scanner everywhere he goes, ready to jump into action at any time.

Martel moved through the ranks in both endeavors, eventually becoming the town’s Scout Master and secretary of Candia’s Volunteer Firefighter Association.

Not one to gloat, Martel modestly attributes his giving nature to the support of others in the community. There were a number of parents in the community who helped him with his Scout leadership, he said.

“I cannot say enough about the parental involvement. The pack is very strong now,” he said of his Scouts and their families.

Martel works at Jeff Canter’s Car World in town, and has for 15 years. When he decided to take on all of this volunteer work, Canter was instrumental in supporting his efforts, according to Martel.

“He’s the most generous employer I ever knew,” Martel said, adding that Canter allows him to stay punched in at work if he gets called out for a fire emergency.

Canter also makes donations to Troop 120, the Boy Scout group Martel oversees, and to the volunteer fire department. Martel said that Canter donated money to buy a trailer for the troop. Each year, he said, Canter also donates cars to be used in the fire department’s extrication courses.

One of the values taught in the Boy Scout program is responsibility, and Martel tries to instill that in his Scouts by encouraging them to fundraise on their own so they can earn their way onto hiking and camping expeditions and other trips throughout the year.

For example, each spring Troop 120 delivers the Town Report to 1,700 homes in Candia. They ask local businesses to pay $75 to place an ad in the packaging with the Town Report. Martel said the troop makes about $2,000 each year from that.

In fact, Troop 120 just returned from a hiking trip to the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, a sprawling 210 square miles of camp and wilderness within the Rocky Mountains chain owned and operated by Boy Scouts of America.

Martel said his reward for helping to develop his Scouts is getting to see how new experiences shape their views of life. “I know these kids are going to grow up with good solid memories,” he said, adding that instances such as the tent collapsing or endless rain on a trip are learning experiences that we always remember.

When it comes to his duty as lieutenant of the fire department, Hawes said the same diligence and sense of duty carries over. “He’s probably one of the top responders to fire calls,” Hawes said, also saying that Martel is “always willing to lend a hand.”

Martel said his nature is to help people, and that he has frequently forgiven late or missed rent for tenants in his apartments. Martel still owns one apartment in Manchester and a house in Hooksett, he said, that he rents out at low cost.

The thanks and gratitude that he gets from being a volunteer firefighter and responding to calls in the wee hours are more than enough compensation for his time, Martel said. “There’s no monetary value that could satisfy that,” he said.

Request for paid fire employees denied

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:05:00 GMT

BY NICHOLAS BROWN

Candia selectmen voted not to move forward with fire department plans calling for a paid, full-time chief’s position and annual stipends for firefighters.

“I think the board agrees we will have a full-time fire chief at some time, but it could be five years from now or 10 years from now,” said selectmen Chairman Clark Thyng. “It’s just not going to be now.”

Fire Chief Rudy Cartier drafted two warrant articles related to paying firefighters beginning next year.

The first asked for a full-time, paid chief’s position, with salary and benefits totaling about $70,000 a year.

Cartier, who’s been chief for three years and who oversees the department’s roster of 36 volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians, said the chief’s job has become increasingly demanding in recent years.

Cartier said he now spends about 700 hours a year – on top of his full-time job – doing fire department duties like safety reviews, professional development, training, planning department reviews and emergency call responses.

He said he proposed the paid position because, “I can’t ensure that we’re going to provide adequate fire and (emergency medical services) to the citizens at all times.”

Cartier noted several similarly sized surrounding towns – including Auburn, Raymond and Nottingham – that all have full-time fire positions.

Thyng said the board appreciated the work Cartier put into the request, but said the wording of the proposed article was unclear. He also suggested there needs to be more involved input from residents on how they perceive the fire department.

“If we’re going to move something onto the ballot,” said Thyng, “it’s got to be crystal clear what the issue is at hand.”

Selectmen voted also to not move forward with a request to provide stipends to the town’s volunteer firefighters.

The stipend request asked for about $42,000 a year, and asked to give volunteers stipends from $750 to $5,000 annually, based on job duties. Cartier said he drafted the warrant article with the hopes of recruiting and retaining interested volunteers, which he said have become harder to find over the years.

“It actually costs people to be in the fire department,” said Cartier, noting transportation and some training costs volunteers often get stuck with.

An all-volunteer department is deficient especially during the daytime hours, said Cartier, when volunteers are working normal jobs.

Thyng said the stipend warrant article, however, was also unclear. He said the board agreed volunteer firefighters should be recognized further for their efforts, but said he wasn’t sure the warrant article provided the right answer.

“We understand our firefighters are brave individuals,” he said.

The selectmen did agree to move forward with a third fire department warrant article asking for a deposit in a fire apparatus capital reserve fund, though they reduced the requested amount from $75,000 to $50,000.

Cartier said he’s not disappointed in the selectmens’ decisions, and said he looks forward to communicating with more people in town this year about the fire department’s long-term goals.

“This isn’t something I’m going to jump up and down and pound my fists over,” he said. “I understand it would be a major philosophical change in the way the fire department operates.” This is the first full year the Candia Fire Department operated under the authority of the town, rather than as an independent volunteer organization.