As the year 2017 approaches, nothing has changed for the Fire Service of Norwich. Even after The Day ran a front page story titled "The Fractured Fire Service of Norwich," (July 2). In fact nothing has changed since I first got involved in this issue after visiting several friends at a Norwich nursing home and noticed the fire department response to a grease fire back in February 2015, almost two years ago. 

Apparently some local fire commanders feel it is better to call for an unstaffed, volunteer fire department, further away, than to call for the paid on-duty staff of Norwich firefighters. Firefighters who must attend a full-time, 18-week recruit school, before they are allowed to ride any Norwich fire trucks. 

After at least a dozen emails to Norwich city officials and those fire commanders, explaining that the public and firefighters lives are in danger, still nothing has changed. In some cases the Norwich Fire Department is excluded from responding to incidents up to a fifth alarm. Yet calling for other fire departments farther away is accepted. 

It is therefore my belief that your family and friends could be at risk by the same people who are assigned to protect them. 

William Dennis

Norwich