NORWICH — A draft plan to remove four volunteer fire companies from emergency response has become the latest flashpoint in Norwich’s fire-service dispute, with Yantic volunteers challenging city officials’ intentions and Fire Chief Sam Wilson calling the document a contingency.
At a November 5 press conference, Yantic Volunteer Fire Department members and supporters pointed to city documents obtained through public-records requests as evidence that officials had long intended to eliminate the volunteer departments, according to Matt Grahn’s reporting for the Norwich Bulletin.
The draft Operational Transition Plan, circulated February 4, covers Laurel Hill, Taftville, Occum and Yantic. The Bulletin reports that it proposes taking those companies off 911 response, converting East Great Plains into a volunteer division of the Norwich Fire Department and creating an engine company in Yantic’s area.
The document puts the cost of complete removal of the existing volunteer arrangement at $1.817 million, according to the Bulletin. That is the draft’s estimate, rather than an announced appropriation or a verified final cost.
Wilson disputed the volunteers’ interpretation. He told the Bulletin the proposal was a contingency intended to maintain operations if volunteers stopped responding under the Unified Command system. He characterized the wider dispute as a failure to collaborate across the city.
For residents, the distinction is between a possible response structure and an adopted change. The draft describes how service could be reorganized; Wilson’s explanation does not establish that the city has approved its full implementation.
The dispute was still awaiting a court decision, the Bulletin reported November 5. Yantic Chief Robert Allen said his department continued certified training, fundraising and recruitment despite being non-operational.