MA Firefighters, Residents Protest Station Closing

NEW BEDFORD, MA—A crowd of firefighters, their family members, and South End residents gathered in front of Fire Station 11 were forced to move to the side when Engine 11 roared to life to respond to a call on Wednesday afternoon.

The crowd was there to attend a press conference called by the New Bedford Firefighters Local 841, following an announcement by Fire Chief Paul Coderre on Friday that Engine 11 will be decommissioned in March in order to put an end to the department's rolling black out policy.

When Engine 11 rolled out of the station responding to a call, there was an enthusiastic round of applause and Councilor-at-large Brian Gomes, who had been at the podium, said, "That's some timing."

RELATED:

Richard MacKinnon, president of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts Union (PFFM), kicked off the press conference moments earlier saying, "it's a sad day when we have to travel to New Bedford, a sad occasion in this day and age, with the threat of closing the fire station behind me."

MacKinnon told those in attendance to call Mayor Jon Mitchell and urge him to keep the station open and emphasized that seconds matter in response to a fire.

Local 841 President Billy Sylvia, who called the decommissioning of Engine 11 irresponsible and reckless, also called attention to the mayor.

"Shortage of manpower in this fire department is because of the failure of this administration to hire new firefighters and keep the department fully operational," Sylvia told the crowd holding yellow signs that read "Keep New Bedford Safe."

Sylvia continued, "When the overtime costs rise because of the manpower shortage, the administration uses this excuse to cut services even further. Any fiscal blows that this department is said to be in have been directly caused by the mayor and his unwillingness to properly staff and fund the department."

In November, 2015, a public safety consultant hired by the city concluded that New Bedford's underfunded, thinly stretched fire and emergency medical services should be consolidated to streamline and better coordinate operations for both.

"Given the current staffing and future fiscal challenges that may arise," the fire department and the city may need to look at reduced staffing, stations and equipment, the report, by the Arizona-based FACETS Consulting said.

Sylvia took the protest as an opportunity to also list the different structures in Engine 11's coverage area, including five schools, two high-rise buildings that house elderly and handicapped individuals, multiple industrial buildings, large mill buildings, and densely populated and congested housing, in addition to multiple events that bring thousands of people to Fort Taber every summer.

A marine rescue boat is also housed in the station, which responds to emergencies on the two beaches on the peninsula along with other water emergencies.

Billy Cabral, secretary/treasurer of PFFM said it was "a travesty to cut services in one of the biggest, best economies we've had in over two decades" and mentioned that the unions had fought hard to bring $40 million in SAFER grants to the city to fund public safety services.

Gomes also mentioned the financial state of the city noting the people have seen their tax bills go up and up and questioning why a station was being closed if that was the case.

The veteran councilor called on the fire chief and the mayor to "reverse your decision now. There's plenty of money."

Both Sylvia and Gomes called attention to recent fatal fires that occurred in areas where one of the closest apparatus was blacked out.

"It's life and death we're talking about here," Gomes said.

Gomes was not the only representative from City Hall to speak, Council President Joseph Lopes, Councilor-at-large Ian Abreu, Councilor-at-large Naomi Carney, Ward 2 Councilor Maria Giesta, and Ward 5 Councilor Scott Lima were all in attendance, along with state Rep. Chris Hendricks, who represents the North End and Acushnet.

Lopes said the decommissioning of Engine 11 in his ward is more than a blackout, it is a closure of a station for 13 months.

At the end of that time, the new Public Safety Center, a short distance away at the end of Brock Avenue is scheduled to open and Lopes said when he voted for the center to be built it was not with the intention that a station would be closed.

Lopes also said that he would not transfer any money the city saved away from the Fire Department.

"I will not transfer funds from the Fire Department to any other account," Lopes said, and took it one step further saying he would push the city into a deficit account leaving it with an unbalanced budget if he had to, rather than transferring the funds away from public safety.

Abreu, a South End peninsula resident himself, asked the crowd if they felt comfortable with the decommissioning of the Engine, and they responded with loud shouts of "No." He then asked them to commit to calling Mitchell's office and telling him that.

Many city residents were in attendance, including Renee Langley who organized a protest against the blackouts outside of the mayor's inaugural address.

Langley is organizing another protest for Saturday, this time against the decommissioning of Engine 11.

As for why she's organizing the protests Langley said, "because it's public safety, it's people's lives."

She said she understands budget constraints as someone who worked in banking, but sees cuts in the fire department, "as the absolute last thing that should ever be cut."

Pete Wilde, who has run for city councilor in the past on a platform for funding the Fire Department, said he would be attending Saturday's protest at Engine 11 because closing Engine 11 is going to leave the entire peninsula without fire coverage.

———

Visit The Standard-Times, New Bedford, Mass. at www.southcoasttoday.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.