By Theresa Knapp 

The Hopedale Select Board has accepted “with great regret” the resignation of Firefighter and EMS Coordinator/SAFE Coordinator Brian Kelley. 

Kelley is one of several firefighters to resign in recent months to take jobs in other communities that have better wages and better staffing. 

Fire Chief Thomas Daige said, “Brian was a huge part of our department. Very, very instrumental in beginning the advanced life support program for our ambulance; he was very popular in the schools with the SAFE program; just an all-around really, really great talent, good firefighter, great paramedic, and he’s going to be terribly missed.” 

In his two-page resignation letter to the Select Board, Kelley thanked the department for the opportunity to work with the town for 10 years as both an on-call and a career firefighter but noted “over the same time period, it has become abundantly clear that the Town of Hopedale does not truly support its Firefighters.” 

He said the department currently has the same staffing it had in the early 1980s when they responded to an average of 350 calls per year. Now they respond to an average of 1,700 per year. Kelley said that is “entirely unacceptable and creates a life safety issue not only for our residents but also for the Firefighters themselves.” 

He said the aging apparatus also presents challenges. 

“Recently, as a result of the inability of the department to purchase the most basic of equipment — a self-loading stretcher — a Firefighter was injured on duty, resulting in him being unable to work for nearly two months.”

In addition to poor apparatus, equipment, and inadequate staffing, Kelley said “the salaries and benefits package we receive is deplorable in comparison to our neighbors and similar municipalities throughout the Commonwealth.” 

Select Board Chair Brian Keyes read the letter aloud at the board’s Dec. 27, 2021 meeting and said, “All that you say is not only concerning but true. We continue to fight that uphill battle and we do need to keep top of mind to invest in this department for the reasons you outline and state.”

Fire Chief Daige added, “If it wasn’t for the grants, I don’t know where we’d be. It’s time the town starts putting some money into this infrastructure, public safety, not only to retain the people but, obviously, to do our jobs properly.” 

Keyes agreed. “It seems to be getting worse, not better, and that’s not a good place for us to be,” adding that, as the board moves toward the budget season, the board will consider “what we can do better.”