Members of Springfield Fire Fighters Local 37 issued a news release Saturday expressing their concerns about the six-day closing of Fire Station No. 4, 1800 Converse Ave., which began at 7 a.m. Saturday.
Springfield’s 12 fire stations are being closed for six days at a time on a rotating basis to deal with firefighter layoffs and furlough days prompted by the city’s budget crisis.
According to the release, firefighters from Station 4 “respond to and are usually the first arriving … to the following: the 14-story Hildebrandt High Rise and these eight schools: Fairview Elementary, Wilcox Elementary, Pleasant Hill Elementary, Wanless Elementary, Ridgeley Elementary, St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary, St. Al’s Catholic Elementary and Lanphier High Schools.”
The firefighters also are among the first to arrive at businesses on North Dirksen Parkway.
The release noted a March 2 report of a house fire in the 1100 block of North Patton Avenue. No. 3 firehouse, closed down by the city three days prior, is 797 feet away, the release says, adding: “The first SFD apparatus on scene responded from #4 Firehouse, located at 1800 Converse Avenue, a distance of 2.3 miles. It took them over 6 minutes to arrive on scene.”
Read the original article from The State Journal-Register.
