Norwood Fire Chief Leo Coughlin Requests Eight New Firefighters and Two Deputies-August 10, 1977

Selectmen Direct Chief to Draft Formal Proposal as Labor Substitution Expenses Threaten to Exhaust Annual Appropriation Within Six Months

Norwood’s fire chief has called for the addition of eight new firefighters and two new deputies as the most effective solution to reducing soaring labor substitution costs.

Appearing before the Board of Selectmen last night, Fire Chief Leo Coughlin told the board that the department’s primary operational hurdle is manpower shortages. Expanding the force to a total of 60 firefighters and four deputies would require an estimated initial investment of approximately $138,000 for the first year.

While selectmen expressed sharp criticism over current manpower administration—which drove July substitution costs to nearly $23,000—they directed Chief Coughlin to draft a formal proposal outlining the staffing expansion. Officials calculated that at July’s expenditure rate for substitutes (off-duty personnel called in at time-and-a-half pay to cover colleagues out sick, injured, or on vacation), the town’s entire annual appropriation ceiling of $123,000 would be completely exhausted within six months.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger