Recently our homeowners insurance increased $400 over last year. We discovered that the mission of many fire departments has changed to saving lives and keeping a fire from spreading to adjacent buildings as opposed to saving the owner’s home. Additionally, due to contamination of groundwater by extinguisher chemicals, water suppression is the method of choice.
Fire departments, every five years, receive a town class rating that measures the department’s access to water, response times, staffing, licenses to operate equipment and other benchmarks. On a 10-point scale (1 is best) Hopkinton’s rating has plummeted from 5 to 9 and was the primary reason for our increased premium.
We also learned that the Hopkinton Rescue Squad, local volunteers helping residents for 54 years, have been unable to support policemen, firemen, ambulances and residents for the last year due to a conflict with town government. They have raised money for their 501(c)(3), their own building and equipment, their training, licensing and insurance. Leaving their jobs at times, they have contributed years of experience in water rescue, extracting passengers from vehicles after serious accidents and providing first responder services in search-and-rescue operations to this and surrounding communities.
It is also distressing that it appears that town government would like to assume these volunteer activities and increase their budget to do so. Hopefully, the select board will reconsider the squad’s value to the town’s residents and lead a constructive dialogue in resolving any misunderstandings.
MARY and TOM CONGORAN
Hopkinton