Union firefighters had opposed the benefits package, saying the town should hire more full-time firefighters.

Cities still have to buy pumpers and ladder trucks and hire firefighters and train them, and we have to have the means to pay for all that.

But Mr. Bollon said in an interview that those measures were not enough, and he called for hiring additional firefighters.

In 1974, the Jefferson County, Alabama Personnel Board signed a consent decree that required them to hire and promote African-American firefighters.

The national union praises Mr. Kerry for supporting higher spending and a new federal program to pay for hiring local firefighters.

States in drought areas are hiring seasonal firefighters early and taking such unusual steps as using goats to eat away underbrush and imposing widespread bans on outdoor smoking.

Firefighter Maida likes the tradition, but will enjoy eating someone else's cooking when the city hires new firefighters in November.

That brings us to the New York Fire Department, which has for the last few years been hiring firefighters with minor, non-felony convictions.

Governor Cuomo said this weekend that he plans to propose legislation requiring newly hired New York City police officers and firefighters to live in the city.

A dozen Connecticut towns do not hire police officers or firefighters who smoke.