Fire Marshal Named Interim Chief of Unified CT Department

COVENTRY, CT—The Town Council has chosen Fire Marshal Bud Meyers to serve as interim fire chief of the unified fire and EMS department — the result of the merger of two fire departments — which begins in July.

Council Vice Chairman Matthew O’Brien Sr. said Meyers will be a “tremendous asset to the town and will do a wonderful job in the role.”

Councilwoman Lisa Thomas said Meyers is highly qualified for the position.

“He has been a volunteer firefighter for Coventry for many years, so he brings the added benefit of knowing our town and our other emergency service personnel,” she said.

The council unanimously approved Meyers’ appointment on April 20. Meyers will serve as interim fire chief for a year in an unpaid capacity. During that time, Meyers, who’s been in the fire service for 42 years, will also continue as fire marshal, a position for which he is paid a stipend of $600 a month.

The previous council voted unanimously in October 2019 to approve a memorandum of understanding where the Coventry Volunteer Fire Association and the North Coventry Volunteer Fire Department would merge into a unified townwide volunteer fire department.

Meyers, who has served as fire marshal for the past three years and currently serves as chief of the North Coventry Volunteer Fire Department, said there is one challenge by far that the unified department will face — the need for more volunteers.

While 80 percent of the calls the town receives are medical, only 16 of the 45 active volunteers are qualified to serve on the ambulance.

While the town contracted with Vintech, an outside ambulance staffing provider, to offset some of the workload, it still has caused a strain on the 16 active EMS responders, he said.

“There is still the higher workload, sleep deprivation, working a 40-hour week and stress of the incident, all adding up to a burden on the 16 members and our EMS services,” he said. “With such a small number of EMS responders, we need to increase our EMS membership to 55 actively responding members, which is around a 250 percent increase.”

A Fire Transition Study Committee was formed in January to study the development of a plan for a unified fire department.

Ken Boutin, who serves as chief of the Coventry Volunteer Fire Association, will no longer serve in that capacity beginning in July.

Meyers in collaboration with Town Manager John Elsesser and the transition committee will appoint three deputy chiefs and 16 officers for the unified department.

Discussion on merging the two departments has been ongoing for years. This is the first time since 1947 that there would be one townwide department, according to James McLoughlin, the town’s emergency management director and fire and EMS administrator.

Meyers said having a unified department “gives the council the ability to better oversee a single department.”

“I am hoping to build upon the successes of the past and create a good organization into a great one,” he said.

Meyers said he will focus on succession planning for officers and combined training.

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