LYNN — Lynn Fire Chief Stephen Archer says he’s trying to bring the fire department into the 21st century.
That’s one of several things the chief addressed in a recent Zoom presentation to the Rotary Club. He also spoke of his goal to have department personnel be more representative of the city’s demographics, and also shared some facts and figures about the department and himself.
Archer told the club that the department has been using new technology, such as aerial drones, in fighting fires. The drones help in determining whether or not a fire is being knocked down adequately, and they also help in identifying “hot spots” without risking firefighters’ safety, among many other uses.
He expressed a goal to attract more Lynn residents to the department, which would allow the department to better reflect the population of the city. Archer noted a high percentage of Lynn’s population is Hispanic, and it would be better for the city to have more Hispanic individuals in the department.
Archer felt that to attract more applicants to the department, recruiting needs to be done at the middle school level. He suggested having a career day at the Boys & Girls Club, where he is a board member. This may get the students — and their parents — to start thinking about a career in the department, whereas recruiting at the high school level is often done after the students have decided on another path, he said.
He told the Rotarians the department consists of 182 uniformed members, with an overall staff of about 200. The budget for fiscal year 2021 is in the neighborhood of $20 million, he said.
Falling under the department’s authority is the civilian-staffed dispatch center, which also dispatches for the Nahant and Swampscott Fire departments.
The department is rated as Class 3 by the Insurance Services Offices, which rates fire departments — Class 1 is the best, with 10 the worst, he said.
Another one of his goals is to establish a public services building (for both fire and police departments) near the waterfront, which will provide some services closer to the new apartments being constructed in that area. That may help improve the city’s classification, he said.
The class rating is one of the many items factored into fire insurance premiums; the better the class, the lower the premiums for homeowners. He said he would like to see a public services building because of the number of new apartments either under construction or in the late planning stages in that area. Those apartments could have well over 1,500 new Lynn residents.
Archer was appointed in January 2018; he joined the force in 1993 when he was 29 years old. A lifelong resident of Lynn, Archer graduated from Lynn Vocational Technical Institute and is a graduate of Anna Maria College.
He was the top scorer among four finalists for the position of chief. He resides in Lynn with his wife and four children.