NFD Segregates During COVID-19 Crisis

Norwood residents pride themselves on the innovative ways this Town provides the best care, benefits, and recreation to its community. They can now add protection to that impressive list. As the nation and the world worked hard to combat the Coronavirus, Norwood Fire Chief George Morrice, his staff, and Town officials looked for innovative solutions to ensure Norwood’s safety. This came in the form of segregating the Norwood Fire Department into three separate locations.
Since March 24, the NFD, made up of approximately 60 firefighters, began segregating themselves into three locations: the main fire house on Nahatan St., the old Norwood Light Building (NLB), on Central Ave., and the DPW yard. The NLB has showers and a kitchenette and staff at the DPW are utilizing facilities in the Civic Center. The main fire station holds Norwood’s emergency medical services (EMS), and the main fire truck, front engine, and ladder truck are in the DPW garage and NLB parking lot.
At the time of this writing (April 8), no Norwood firefighters were diagnosed with COVID-19, but these precautions were implemented to ensure the safety of the NFD family and citizens.
“There was an uptick in other fire departments where others got exposed, so out of abundance of caution, we self-quarantined,” Deputy Fire Chief David Hayes said. “To avoid exposing the whole shift, the chief decided to split us up.”
During this unprecedented health crisis, the majority of NFD calls are respiratory in nature, but Norwood’s team is ready. For any suspected COVID-19 patients or even displaying symptoms, gowns, masks, and eye protection gear is worn. While those supplies are tight as they are in high demand, according to Hayes, there has been a lot of cooperation with local companies providing free face shields and masks.
“The support we have had in the public is amazing,” Hayes said. “We have a great relationship with hotels in town; everybody is really pulling together.
With non-essential stores closed and the majority of Massachusetts residents working from home, NFD’s overall calls have dropped, especially with fewer vehicle accidents, but medical transports are up significantly; fire alarms are remain consistent.
Although total runs may have dipped, Norwood Firefighters are finding themselves working longer hours to address the medical calls.
“[Medical] incidents tend to be more serious as it takes longer to service those runs,” Hayes said. “They spend up to an hour decontaminating themselves.”
This is not the first time Norwood has temporarily relocated its emergency vehicles. During storms, the department has parked its trucks in South Norwood and/or Rte. 1 to shorten response times.
At the time of this writing, the NFD has experienced impressive attendance and has been able to adequately service its citizens. Their demand is high as well as the risk. But in true Norwood tradition, they are up to the challenge with true professionalism and dedication.
“My guys are coming to work, we have not have a lot of absentees,” Hayes said. “They go in where there are symptoms of COVID-19, but they just put the heads down and go on in. I am very proud of the guys, and the Chief is too. They are doing work like I have never seen before.”