One of the final duties that Danbury Fire Chief Geoff Herald had to do before he retired this weekend, was provide City officials with an update on the Department.  He submitted a Statement of Condition about the fire houses, equipment and the future needs of the Department.  There are 5 career and 12 volunteer fire stations in the City.  The city maintains and owns six of the volunteer houses.

He gave an update on the Commerce Park Station 24, which at last update was in imminent risk of failure.  An engineering study found it was just an issue with the facade.  Herald says while there are some issues remaining, this was positive news.  Station 24 was built and donated to the city by Powers Construction in the 1970s.

A backup generator was recently installed at the station, which means now all career stations have backup generators.

Herald says the Department, like others across the country, is faced with technological challenges and changes in response to fires.  He says that drives changes at the lowest level of fire service --gear, fire trucks and air packs.  The City has been able to fund some repairs and replacements of the radio system over recent years.  But Herald it's a mix of different manufacturers, ages and models for the units. 

Herald says at some point, the City will have to consider revamping the whole system for police, fire, EMS, public works, and education.