Manassas City Councilman unveils fire, rescue plan

Manassas Councilman Andrew L. “Andy” Harrover said he searched high and low looking for a good way to restructure the city’s fire and rescue service.

He studied other systems in the area and found a number of variations in the way fire and rescue departments are operated.

Some systems use a chief to run things, while others rely on a committee. Still others use a combination of the two, or hybrid system, Harrover said.

He proposed a hybrid system, after saying all structures work well as long as everybody “worked hand-in-hand.”

Harrover chaired the Fire and Rescue Committee that was appointed by the city council to determine how best to structure the system.

The Manassas Fire and Rescue Department, the Greater Manassas Volunteer Rescue Squad and the Manassas Volunteer Fire Company and Chief Michael Wood have been at odds for some time over how the companies should be structured.

Harrover’s recommendation came after a subcommittee with representatives from each of the three departments failed to come up with a solution and kicked the problem back to councilmen Mark T. Aveni, J. Steven Randolph and Harrover.

Under Harrover’s plan, Wood would be responsible for developing standard procedures, administering the department and acting as the liaison between the city government and the volunteers, Harrover said.

“He’s our day-to-day operations chief,” Harrover said.

A seven-member public safety committee of two representatives each from the volunteer fire company, the volunteer rescue squad and the career fire department along with a non-voting representative from the city council would work with the chief to purchase apparatus and equipment and ensure proper training, Harrover said.

“The different entities are responsible for deciding their representatives on that body,” Harrover said.

Allowing each organization its continued identity in the restructuring is important, Harrover said.

“It’s crucial to maintaining the esprit de corps that all three organizations enjoy,” he said.

If the committee members and the chief run into difficulty and can’t resolve a problem, they would go before an appeals committee made up of the city manager, city council member and a citizen of Manassas.

Decisions made by the appeals committee would be “final and binding,” Harrover said.

Andrew Carver, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters local 4466, said he didn’t agree with the composition of the appeals committee.

“I find it a problem, and I wonder if you do as well, that the end-all-be-all appeals committee is made up of three people that have no fire and rescue experience,” Carver asked Harrover.

Mike Enright, the president of the rescue squad, said he would like to see the appeals committee made up of knowledgeable officials from other jurisdictions.
Harrover said that city had other, similar appeals committees that worked well.

“I would simply point out that we have other committees in the city that deal with very complicated issues,” Harrover said. “Frankly, I hope that committee doesn’t get used a lot.”

Harrover’s committee voted to forward the proposal to the city council, which will need to direct staff to write ordinances to codify the plan.

Harrover said he didn’t think the writing of the ordinances would get done “in the next three months.”

“It’s a huge task,” Harrover said.

Enright chafed at the delay and said something needed to be done now.

He favored implementing the plan immediately to see how it works, before carving anything into city ordinance.

“I’m just sorry to see that this is going to be dragged out because we need to do something now,” Enright said. “Start with it. Run it for 60 days and then tune it up. Find out what’s wrong with it before you put it into an ordinance.”

Wood said he believes the plan “makes significant steps forward” and identifies boundaries, guiding principles and puts checks and balances in place.

He said the plan would work in much the same way the department is operating now.

“The transition will not be as difficult as everyone had feared,” Wood said.

“I think we really just need to get on with the business of running a fire and rescue service for the city,” Wood said. “It’s time to get the petty differences behind us and start moving forward.”

Manassas Bureau Chief Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.