Gloria Ferris

Please attend an important community meeting:

January 10, 2005
Corpus Christi Church
5204 Northcliff Avenue
7:00 p.m.

As many of you already know, there is talk that the Old Brooklyn Neighborhood will be losing their Hook and Ladder #42 to redeployment or “browning out.” At first I heard that the hook and ladder would be reassigned to an east side station, and then I heard that the equipment would be taken out of service.

The above two scenarios raise a lot of questions, and that is why we all need to attend the meeting at Corpus Christi. We need to ask these questions. And, they need to be answered adequately before any changes are made with regard to the fire safety of our neighborhoods.

As I understand it, Station #42 presently has a ladder company whose responsibilities include–Forcible Entry, Inside Ventilation, Outside Ventilation, Search and Rescue, Ladder Placement and Roof Access, Salvage Operations, Overhaul, Checking for Fire Extension, and Emergency Medical Care. They also have an Attack Engine Company. The responsibilities include finding a water source, attaching a supply hose to the hydrant, pumping water from the hydrant, finding the seat of the fire, providing emergency medical care, and extinguishing the fire.

If the hook and ladder engine at Station #42 is redeployed or browned out, it makes no difference. The following will then be the capabilities of Station #42 on their own: finding a water source, attaching a supply hose to the hydrant, pumping water from the hydrant, finding the seat of the fire, provide Emergency Medical Care, and extinguishing the fire. Search and Rescue will not be part of the drill any more, for the men out of this station.

In other words, in the change, Station #42 is losing the following functions: “Forcible Entry, Inside Ventilation, Outside Ventilation, Search and Rescue, Ladder Placement and Roof Access, Salvage Operations, Overhaul, Checking for Fire Extension.” Seems like quite a lot.

The other arm, the Search and Rescue arm, of the fire-fighting process will need to come from a station farther away. Presumably, the Hook and Ladder Company stationed at Brooklyn Centre will be the backup. Many questions arise with that scenario. Station #20 here in Brooklyn Centre is a “first responder” and is called to respond to the freeway as well as many other life-and-death emergencies. Will this company be able to handle the additional duties added to them? Has the addition of Steelyard Commons been considered in the decision? If Station #20 is on a first responder call, who will respond to a fire in Old Brooklyn?

Fire trucks must arrive in 8 minutes as established by NFPA 1710 which is an Industry Standard issued by the National Fire Protection Association. NFPA is comprised of representatives from industry, manufacturers, fire officials, city planners, and the general public. Will this be possible when the hook and ladder truck may be coming from a station that is even farther away than Station #20?
The next closest station would be #4 at Lorain and 32nd. The other two #23 located at Madison and 98th and #13 located at Pershing and Broadway are certainly farther away than the 8 minutes called for in the national guidelines. Has the closing of the Fulton Road Bridge for two years been taken into consideration?

In 2003, Station 20 in Brooklyn Centre, responded to 1595 Emergency Responses including 124 Structure fires and 646 responses for Medical Assistance. In that same year, Station 42 responded to 1023 Emergency Reponses including 56 Structure fires and 462 responses for Medical assistance. What are the chances that Station #20 responsible for backing up Station #42 will be on another call and that one of the stations farther away will have to respond? Remember we don’t know what the statistics for those stations are.

I don’t know what the chances are, and actually I don’t care when the safety of my family, neighbors, and friends are in question. The only acceptable answer is that we do not rely on chance. We are talking about our safety here, folks. On the surface, when you only look at number of calls, usage, etc., statistically, it may appear reasonable to redeploy a piece of equipment to where it would be more used. On the surface, that would appear to be a reasonable, efficient use of services, but we are not talking numbers here, we are talking about human capital–people. And, since we are talking “people,” we should take into consideration the whole city. Before, we were told that the hook and ladder was needed on the east side because of more fire calls. Now, suddenly, it is no longer needed and it will be “browned out”. Are there suddenly fewer calls on the east side of Cleveland? I suddenly doubt it.

At the vigil held at Fire Station #42 on January 3rd, Councilman Cummins said that safety forces had been cut to the bare bones, and we could not stand for any more cuts. There you have it, folks, this discussion is not about “equipment” but “staffing requirements for the equipment”. I agree with Brian’s assessment. At the meeting this coming Tuesday, January 10th, we need to make sure that we do not allow city officials to make the discussion about statistics, equipment, and tax dollars. We must control the dialogue and the dialogue must be SAFETY and PEOPLE.

I’m going to try to be there early, around 6:30. We have a lot to talk about.