Story compiled by Tim Caldwell, CWN editor.
Editor’s note: For the sake of full disclosure, Tim Caldwell is a retired Provincetown Firefighter.
This article is compiled in sections to allow all parties to respond.
Fire Chief Michael Trovato
Photo by Britt Crosby/capecodfd.com
PROVINCETOWN – There is concern for the future of firefighting in Provincetown. At Monday’s Select Board meeting in Provincetown, A group of Provincetown Firefighters read the following letter during public statements in which they announced their intent to resign on July 2nd:
“To the Town Manager and Select Board:
We are all very proud to be members of the Provincetown Fire Department. Many of us were born and raised here. Some are third- and fourth-generation firefighters, and some are “washashores.” Regardless, we all answer the call when needed. Whether it’s rescuing people on the breakwater, responding to a plane crash, or responding to a five-alarm fire, we all answer the call, day or night, in any type of weather, with the utmost professionalism.
We have encountered many obstacles over the years and have always managed to overcome them. Until now. The past few months have been very trying. Learning that the Fire Department was trending in the direction of becoming full time, we all wondered what was to become of us, the call/volunteer members, many of whom have dedicated more than half their lives to serving and protecting the citizens of Provincetown and their property.
A few of us met with Town Manager Morse and his assistant to voice our concerns about why town government was looking to abolish the Board of Fire Engineers as soon as possible. Morse even went as far as to place an article on the town warrant recommending the town abolish the board. After hearing our concerns, he agreed to a meeting at the main fire station with several Select Board members and most of the Fire Dept. At this meeting, Chief Travato was explaining what course of action he felt should be taken, and that he saw transitioning to a full-time department would take three to five years. During his explanation, he was abruptly cut off by Morse, who said, “All right, Chief, let’s give someone else a chance to talk.” Talk about a lack of respect for a man who has devoted almost fifty years of his life to the town. Morse and the three Select Board members thanked us for our time and input and said they would look into the concerns brought up. They stated that they know how important the call department is to the community, and that the dept. couldn’t function without us. What a bunch of BS. The article concerning the Board of Fire Engineers still made it to the floor of town meeting, although it had been watered down a bit to presumably make it seem less offensive.
The citizens of Provincetown are pretty smart. They know what a good thing they’ve got. And the article was not approved by an overwhelming vote! It was quite clear Morse was not happy with the result. Although the members of the Board of Fire Engineers should have been reappointed before and definitely after town meeting, they still have not been to this day and are listed as “holdovers.”
More recently, and this was the final straw, Chief Travato was notified that Morse wanted to speak to him in his office at Town Hall, and that he was to come alone. At this meeting, Chief Travato was accused of creating a hostile work environment within the Fire Dept. and told that it would be in the best interests of the town and Fire Dept. for him to resign. Another show of extreme disrespect. This meeting apparently took place due to a complaint from one or two persons in the PFD. We believe Chief Travato has never made the Fire Dept. a hostile workplace, and rather than go by the words of one or two members, Morse should have reached out to the Department as a whole to get the opinions of everyone.
When the Firemen’s Association submitted a letter to town government voicing our concerns about how the Chief and Board of Engineers are being disrespected and stating that we wouldn’t tolerate it, Chief Travato was sent an email from Select Board member Leslie Sandberg that stated she was infuriated that the letter was read in public by Firefighter Hunter. But Chief Travato had no idea the Association was even writing the letter in his support.
Apparently, the Town Manager and the Select Board know better what’s best for the town than our Chief, our Board of Engineers, and our brave group of firefighters.
Due to the past and current display exhibited by our town officials, it is with heavy hearts that we, the undersigned, will be retiring from Provincetown Fire Department as of midnight on July 2, 2024.
“We suggest the select board and town manager take immediate steps to fix this situation and also issue a public apology to Chief Trovato.
(Although not in the letter, the firefighters wanted to affirm that this action is in no way an attack on their brothers and sisters who are working full-time for fire/rescue and have their full support).
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Town Manager Alex Morse
Photo via Town of Provincetown
Town Manager Alex Morse released the following statement early Tuesday afternoon:
“Background
At the beginning of May, after both full-time and call/volunteer members of the department contacted me with concerns about the Fire Department, the Assistant Town Manager and I met with Chief Trovato.
During that meeting, we raised those concerns directly with the Chief, as we would with any other Town department head.
While it may have been an uncomfortable meeting for the Chief, it is our job to ensure that leaders in Town departments are behaving professionally, supporting staff, and making good use of taxpayer dollars that support their departments.
We did not ask the Chief to resign, nor did we fire him or initiate any disciplinary action against him. In fact, it is the Chief who threatened to resign in that meeting, as he has on numerous occasions in the past when difficult conversations about the department have been had. This is not productive or collaborative behavior by a leader of a department.
As I have said on many occasions, I respect Chief Trovato and the call volunteers who have devoted decades of service to Provincetown. But we also must respect our 20 newer full-time staff who deserve the same training and treatment as all members of the fire department.
On June 17th, days after he was provided notice that the Select Board would hold an executive session to discuss with him the personnel issues raised within the Fire Department, Chief Trovato submitted his resignation, effective July 2, 2024, and chose not to attend the meeting. Regardless, I want to thank Chief Trovato for his 49 years of dedicated service to the department and to the people of Provincetown.
I want to remind the public that, per state law, Chief Trovato would have had to retire in less than a year from now. As such, over the last few years, our guiding principle has been to focus on succession planning to ensure we have continuity of services within the department. Over the last year, for the first time in history, the Town hired 20 full-time Firefighter-EMTs and Firefighter-Paramedics, as part of a long-term plan to supplement the call volunteers and transition to what’s called a “combination department” for Provincetown. A combination department is a department with full-time staff that are supported and supplemented by call volunteers.
Fire & EMS Coverage
I have never proposed that we eliminate the call department or transition to a full-time department entirely. We must acknowledge that many of our call volunteers are already over the age of 65 and, per state law, are unable to respond to fires. Many more are approaching that age and unfortunately are not being replaced by younger people. As such, it is my responsibility to ensure that we have both EMS and Fire resources to adequately serve and protect our Town now and in the long-term. If it was up to the outgoing Chief and some of the call volunteers, we would keep everything the way it has been for decades, which would put the Town, its property, and our people, in danger. That is unacceptable.
Last night, I was disappointed that 19 volunteer members of the department threatened to resign in such a public fashion. We would of course prefer they remain members of the call/volunteer department and continue their service to the people of Provincetown. I am hopeful that many of them will choose to continue to serve their community and that their allegiance to the Town will outweigh their allegiance to one man who made the decision to retire.
With that said, we are committed to meeting with the 19 volunteers in question, and I’ve invited them to Town Hall to discuss their commitment to the Provincetown Fire Department. My office door has always been open to them, and it’s disappointing that they didn’t approach me for these discussions rather than using the public comment period of a meeting to announce their retirements and scare members of our community. While cynical, I understand that the goal of their tactics was to capture the attention of the public and instill fear throughout our community. They have accomplished that, and it’s my job to make sure our residents know that we are confident in our ability to provide the needed fire and EMS coverage as we approach peak season in Provincetown.
Myself, the Select Board, Town staff, the full-time members of our fire department, and the majority of our call/volunteers are committed to ensuring the future of our combination fire department and the safety of our residents and visitors.
While it is irresponsible that some of the call volunteers threatened to quit before one of the busiest weeks of the year, as previously stated, I am hopeful some of them will not follow through on their threat. Regardless of their decision, please know that the Fire Department will persevere. I know this because my job is to plan ahead – to ensure that we were prepared in the event something like this were to occur. It’s what we did when Lower Cape Ambulance Association abruptly ceased to exist last summer, and it’s what we’ve done to prepare for what happened last night. Had we not planned ahead, I would likely feel the same way many of you felt last night and are feeling today.
The outgoing Chief has always said he has “40 to 50 guys” in the call/volunteer department. In actuality, the Fire Department is comprised of 46 call members – only some of whom actually respond to calls and/or are legally allowed to due to their age, training status, etc. – as well as 20 Career Firefighter/EMS members. Consequently, at least 27 call members will remain as well as 20 career line personnel and 2 career staff personnel.
Planning for the Future
I want to assure you that the fire department’s commitment to public safety will never waver. In response to the public comments and concerns raised, the Provincetown Fire Department is implementing a comprehensive plan to strengthen our firefighting capabilities and ensure that our town remains safe and protected. One key aspect of our strategy is the establishment of a dedicated engine company staffed by a mixture of career firefighters and call members for the months of July, August, and September. This approach will ensure that we have a reliable and skilled team ready to respond to any fire emergency.
Recognizing the importance of training and preparedness, we are also sponsoring a Firefighter 1 and 2 program for our call members locally to prepare for pro-board certification. This initiative aims to address any deficiencies in training and ensure that all members of our fire department are well-equipped to handle any situation that may arise. Furthermore, we are committed to the professional development of our career firefighters. The remaining career members who have not yet attended the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy are already enrolled in the next available training session. This investment in training and education will enhance the skills and knowledge of our firefighters, ultimately benefiting the safety of our community.
In the coming days, I will be sharing more information about our plans for the leadership of the department during this time of transition.
I know many residents may feel uneasy about the events that took place last night, but I assure you that my sole focus is on the sustainability of our department and its continued ability to provide the high level of public safety services our community expects.
I look forward to working with all members of the department – both call/volunteers and full-time staff – to ensure everyone feels supported and has the tools, training, and leadership they need to provide the highest level of service possible to our residents and visitors.
And while changing the way things have historically been done may be uncomfortable, it will be necessary as part of our succession planning to meet our shared goal of ensuring our combination Fire Department is successful for years to come.
In partnership,
Alex Morse
Town Manager”
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Select Person Leslie Sandberg who was singled out in the letter read by firefighters, released the following statement:
“Thank you for the chance to correct the record. Last night my email was cherry picked to try and insinuate that I did not want a Fire Association letter read in public. This was not the case. I have copied my email to Chief Travato below so you can see the whole email. I was “infuriated” at the public attack, not against reading their letter in public. My email was in response to the Chief emailing me about a Provincetown Independent article. Here is the email:
From: Leslie Sandberg
To:[email protected]
Cc:Leslie Sandberg
Re: Article in the Independent.
Fri 5/31/2024 3:28 PM
Hi Chief,
I think the letter that was sent by the Association was very inappropriate – public attacks like that infuriate me.
And you can be upset with me for what I said, but also remember I said you are brilliant and we would be crazy to fire you. I apologize for hurting your feelings. It will not hurt your business – you are too well respected.
We need to all come together and figure out how we are going to make the transition work. Everyone needs to compromise and realize that whether we like it or not, you are retiring and we have to find a way to have the on-call firefighters and the new full time hires get along. This public fight will not help.
Leslie”
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CWN has also reached out to Fire Chief Michael Trovato for his comment as well. He had not responded as of press time but CWN will post any updates here.
