By Jarrod Wardwell
Journal Inquirer
EASTON, Conn. 鈥� Easton paramedics bid farewell last week to the torn shingles, collapsed pipes and other signs of age filling their nearly century-old station and moved into their new home for the next year on an herb farm a mile north.
Easton EMS, the town鈥檚 volunteer emergency medical services agency, has relocated to a ranch-style house on the nearby Gilbertie鈥檚 Organics farm property, where it plans to operate while its Sport Hill Road headquarters undergoes a $4.1 million renovation, starting next month. The move places the agency in much tighter quarters 鈥� and its vehicles underneath a tent 鈥� but it also signals the start of a long-awaited modernization project that will widen its station鈥檚 garage, add office space, replace an aging septic system and turn sleeping partitions into private bedrooms over the next year.
鈥淭his is monumental,鈥� Easton EMS Chief Jon Arnold said inside the Gilbertie鈥檚 Organics house Tuesday. 鈥淓aston EMS has never had a purpose-built structure. We鈥檝e had a tent. We鈥檝e had a single-bay garage. And we got the repurposed firehouse. We have never had anything that is specifically purpose-built for us. This will be the first time in over 75 years that we鈥檝e had something that is specifically designed for an, ambulance, for EMS to provide emergency medicine to community.鈥�
The current building dates back to 1926, when the station opened as a single-story firehouse with a one-bay garage, Arnold said. Two more vehicle bays and a second story with a dance floor, bar and industrial kitchen came in additions during the 1940s or 1950s, he said.
Since taking over the station in the late 1980s, Easton EMS has managed to repurpose much of the building, but Arnold said its original design has also left 鈥渢remendous amount of wasted space.鈥�
鈥淏ack in the 鈥�50s and 鈥�60s, you would come up here with the boys and have a drink and smoke your cigar and watch the game,鈥� he said, standing near the former site of the bar on the top floor.
As EMS crew members started the move Tuesday, they loaded a trailer and SUV with oxygen tanks, CPR mannequins, monitors, tables and furniture and shuttled between the two locations. The landing grounds for much of the equipment was a roughly three-minute drive north to the farmhouse, with three bedrooms, a kitchen, living room and basement 鈥� 1,611 square feet in total.
The space is less than a fifth the size of the EMS headquarters, which Arnold said totals 6,262 square feet. But for the EMS chief, it still has the essentials.
鈥淲e looked for a place that was going to allow us the minimum standards to continue to provide high quality 911 service,鈥� Arnold said. 鈥淎nd we have a place to sleep. We have a place for people to cook meals, take showers and be ready at a moment鈥檚 notice. And this facility provided that.鈥�
Easton EMS rents the house from the Aspetuck Land Trust , the Westport land preservation nonprofit that bought the Gilbertie鈥檚 Organics farm property for $2 million in 2020. The house had been part of the acquired property 鈥� one of several land conservation deals between Fairfield County towns and the land trust, which has 45 trailed preserves in the area, according to its website.
Arnold said the farmhouse had been unused in recent years. In January, the basement was flooded, the electrical system was 鈥渉anging all over the place鈥� and mold was forming on carpet flooring. But the land trust got to work and started renovating the interior in the weeks leading up to the EMS move with fresh painting, flooring, kitchen appliances and an updated electrical system.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just part and parcel of having a good working relationship with the town, and if we can benefit an organization in the town like the EMS that actually helps people and saves people鈥檚 lives, that鈥檚 a wonderful thing,鈥� David Brant, the executive director of the land trust, said.
Sal Gilbertie, the owner of the farm, said the house鈥檚 permanent use remains in flux. A farm stand and employee housing are both options, but he said he was happy to let Easton EMS place a temporary station there, calling its service 鈥渇antastic.鈥�
He said his farm sits about 100 yards away from the house, and the driveway connecting the house to Sport Hill Road has been wide enough for tractor-trailers in the past.
鈥淚t鈥檚 perfect as far as I鈥檓 concerned,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a perfect situation.鈥�
Inside the farmhouse, Arnold said, Easton EMS will handle calls, records, purchases and billing from a single bedroom. Volunteers will sleep in the two other bedrooms, and the living room will host monthly training nights for active members to renew certifications for CPR, oxygen and respiratory machines and Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards.
The property lacks a garage, so a tent will shelter the service鈥檚 two ambulances, SUV and ATV through the spring, summer, fall and winter, Arnold said.
He plans to figure out how to heat the vehicles during the colder months and will seek advice from other agencies that keep their vehicles outdoors. He said crews might need to store medications in 鈥済o bags鈥� inside the house until they鈥檙e needed for a response. He also might look into boat heaters to keep the vehicles above freezing.
The agency will also lose space to host its summer training programs for recruits preparing to become EMTs, but Arnold said the Easton Board of Education agreed to let the service conduct classes at Samuel Staples Elementary School during the summer.
In 2023, town officials committed to renovating the station after considering moving Easton EMS to the current firehouse property on Center Road across the street. Easton voters gave the station鈥檚 renovation a final seal of approval last month in a referendum authorizing $2.9 million in remaining cash reserve funds.
Arnold said the EMS crew spent the day of the referendum outside the polls at Samuel Staples Elementary School, talking to voters and accompanied by other EMS companies from Trumbull, Monroe, Norwalk and Weston throughout the day. After first questioning if the renovation would ever happen, Arnold watched the votes pour in.
The referendum passed 1,176-527.
Members rejoiced when the results were out. The project would move forward with resounding support for the service of volunteers.
鈥淚t was a lot of hugs going around and tears of joy and high fives, and it was just this fantastic feeling that decades worth of work finally paid off,鈥� Arnold said.
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