Yantic Fire Engine Co. No. 1 hired Gaffney Bennett after Norwich shut the company down over a Unified Command agreement

By Daniel Drainville
The Day

NORWICH, Conn. — Yantic Fire Engine Co. No. 1, shut down two weeks ago by the city after failing to sign an agreement to comply with the city’s Unified Command policy, has hired a public relations firm to represent it.

Justin May, a partner with Gaffney Bennett, which has also represented Ørsted on offshore wind issues, said Tuesday that the volunteer company retained the firm last week. May is head of the firm’s Connecticut office.

| EARLIER: 4 Conn. FDs file lawsuit after officials close volunteer fire department

Since being retained, May has emailed several news releases on behalf of the fire company, including about a protest to be held at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Old Tymes Restaurant, on Main Street in Norwich.

On Monday, a lawsuit from four of the city’s five volunteer companies — Yantic, Taftville, Occum and Laurel Hill — against the city, was filed in New London Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges that City Manager John Salomone and City Fire Chief Sam Wilson exceeded their authority in establishing the Unified Command policy they wanted Yantic to sign onto.

May said as the saga continues, and appears as though it may continue for a while, his firm’s role will be to provide the fire company with some support.

“Essentially, what we do for organizations of all shapes and sizes is to help them with communications, and media relations,” May said.

He said while his firm has done some of this work for fire chiefs, this is the first time in his 20-year career doing work for a volunteer fire department.

Yantic Chief Bobby Allen on Tuesday declined to comment on why the firm had been hired, or how much they were being paid.

Meanwhile, the city on Tuesday retained its own public affairs firm — Hartford -based Intersect Public Solutions — Wilson said.

After a statement from Wilson was sent to a reporter by the firm, Wilson said in a text message that Intersect has been hired to help with messaging regarding public safety and the direction the city is taking to ensure the safety of its citizens.

Wilson said he did not have an official answer as to how much the firm is costing the city.

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