A Three Alarm Fire Breaks Out in Lender Column.

The fire department at the Connecticut Valley Hospital awoke with a jolt today–and this time it’s not one of their many false alarms. The over-staffed 3-man department will fuel wide suspicions that more cutting could have been done in the budget the legislature passed last week with little pain to essential services.

The CVH fire operation pays $346,077 a year to its three members, according to the Courant’s Jon Lender, including a staggering amount of overtime. Don’t miss the bureaucratic gibberish explaining why the scam must, must, must continue. The number two in the department that responds to few fires made almost 40% of his $131,268 compensation in overtime for being “on-call” once every three weekends. Sometimes a name tells a story.  His is Leachman.

Would anyone be surprised if the members of the department are considered to be on hazardous duty, so they get to retire after 20 years?