Members of the town’s firefighters union lashed out at Fire Chief Arthur H. Pelland over his decision not to issue a vendor’s permit to stage a fireworks display at Memorial Field on July 3.
“We are trying to show the public that we totally disagree with the chief’s decision,” Fire Capt. John Nuttall said Tuesday at a press conference in front of Abington Fire Station 2 on Rockland Street.
Nine of the 21 members of Abington Firefighters Local 2080 attended the conference including several firefighters from Rockland and Whitman.
“He couldn’t have done this at a worse possible time,” said Nuttall, in reference to deep budget cuts the department is facing at town meeting on June 15.
Pelland said last week he would not issue a permit to the New Hampshire fireworks vendor hired by the Abington Night Before the Fourth Committee, calling it a public safety matter.
With only five firefighters available per shift and budget constraints, Pelland said there isn’t enough personnel to monitor the fireworks display and protect the town.
Nuttall said the chief’s statement “absolutely is not true” and criticized his “poor judgment.” He added that firefighter details at past fireworks displays have always been off-duty personnel, paid in part by the committee.
“This is not a budgetary issue,” Nuttall said.
Firefighter/paramedic Jack Glynn said discussions with the chief about the permit took place about four months ago, but union members only heard about his decision this week.
Glynn said off-duty firefighters are ready to work the fireworks detail although it appears the chief has made up his mind.
“We are disappointed and angry that he did this. He just refused to listen to his options,” Nuttall said.
Each year, the fireworks display draws thousands of people from Abington and beyond. Only twice in the event’s 32-year history has it been canceled because of funding shortfalls. The $30,000 price tag is funded totally by private donations.
Robert Baker, chairman of the volunteer Night Before the Fourth Committee, said in April the chief indicated to him that he would not issue a fireworks permit and said the committee was free to stage other events.
The committee has raised almost all of the funding. Without a permit, the fireworks show cannot go on, Baker said.
“I don’t know where he is coming from. All of a sudden there is a problem with the number of men you’ve got,” he said.
On June 22 and 23, the committee will host the Clyde Beatty Cole Brothers Circus, a major source of fireworks funding, at the Commercial Club on Route 18 in East Bridgewater. The circus has traditionally been a pre-fireworks highlight in Abington at Memorial Field. But when the circus caused $30,000 in damage to Memorial Field last year, it had to look elsewhere for a new staging ground.