The recent fire in Hadley, which tore through a building only days after voters rejected a
Proposition 2½ override, is more than an unfortunate coincidence — it is a stark warning.
With the defeat of the override, the town has moved forward with staffing cuts that slash the Fire Department’s workforce by 50 percent. That means only half the firefighters who once responded to emergencies will be available the next time a blaze breaks out or a resident suffers a medical emergency. It also means half of Hadley’s firefighters are unemployed, leaving them and their families without a paycheck.
The risks of such deep cuts are not abstract. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) sets standards for safe staffing on fire apparatus to protect both firefighters and the public. These are not union talking points; they are life-and-death benchmarks shaped by decades of research and hard lessons. When staffing falls below NFPA standards, fires burn longer, response times slow, and the dangers to firefighters and residents multiply.
“Doing more with less” is not a model that applies to fire suppression. Hadley’s firefighters already contend with the challenges of serving a growing community on limited resources. Expecting them to do the same job with half the personnel is not only unrealistic—it’s reckless. Fires double in size every minute, and every second matters when pulling a victim from a smoke-filled home. Without adequate staffing, residents may wait for help that cannot arrive fast enough.
The fire on Quinlan Drive should serve as a wake-up call. Hadley cannot afford to balance its budget on the backs of firefighters and the public they protect. At the special Town Meeting on Oct. 23, residents will face a clear choice: restore funding for adequate fire protection or risk paying a far greater price later. Public safety must never be negotiable. I urge residents to stand with Hadley Firefighters, IAFF Local 5486, and contact their elected officials today to restore public safety before it’s too late.
Michael Mazulis, president of Hadley Firefighters IAFF Local 5486, firefighter and paramedic
Granby