VA Station Closure Raises Response Time, Morale Concerns

PETERSBURG, VA—Smoke continues to hang over the way firefighters assigned to a Walnut Hill station were apparently told about the decision last weekend to shutter the station.

Petersburg's city manager maintains that the decision to close Station 4 on South Sycamore Street is based on downward financial projections from the coronavirus-provoked loss of revenue. The move, however, has raised questions not only about the logistics of having one less station but also the way in which crews assigned to Station 4 were advised of the closure.

Logistics an issue

The closure of Station 4 creates doubt in the minds of some who feel that losing a fire station will only create problems, particularly with response time to a call. Right now, those crews assigned to Station 4 have been consolidated into Station 5 on Johnson Road near Petersburg High School, a little over two miles or a five-minute drive away.

RELATED: Mold Concerns Abruptly Shut Down VA Fire Station

Former Petersburg assistant fire marshal Marlow Jones, who left in February to become a Virginia deputy fire marshal, said a fire can spread from a spark to full stage in about three minutes.

"These stations were set up for strategic purposes," Jones said. "When you take that away, you've got to change up strategy and tactics."

Station 4 was responsible for responding to calls in a sizable chunk of south and southeastern Petersburg. It served most of South Crater Road, the area around Southside Regional Medical Center, Rives Road, Wagner Road and U.S. Route 460 toward the border of Prince George County.

The National Fire Protection Agency sets standards for response times. The first fire company should arrive on scene within four minutes of an alarm being raised in 90% of cases. The second engine should arrive within six minutes.

Jones says that it would take 5-8 minutes for fire crews to arrive on scene for a hypothetical fire at the Walmart on South Crater Road. The next closest station, Station 2 on Farmer Street, would take 8-10 minutes.

For a possible fire in far southeastern Petersburg near Prince George, Jones said it would take 15 minutes for engines from Johnson Road's Station 5 to respond.

"When we get there, it's more than just putting water on it," Jones said. "You've got to establish water, you've got to make sure your strategies and tactics are in place. That will kill somebody. People will die. This is why it's important to have that engine [on Sycamore Street]."

Crunching the numbers

In an interview with The Progress-Index this week, City Manager Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides said city leaders were told by an economist from Virginia First Cities to expect a loss of about $1.6 million from the COVID-19 epidemic. VFC also projected that pandemic-loss estimate to more than double to $4.3 million in 2021.

As of March 31, the city had budgeted the fire department at the same number of positions from the previous year — 76, plus two office-administrative positions. Thirty-three of them are firefighters, with the rest being officers.

"So if you imagine having a 1-1 ratio for every firefighter you have an officer, whether it's a sergeant, an officer or a battalion chief, how do you restructure so you have people doing the work, versus managing people doing the work?" Ferrell-Benavides said.

When Ferrell-Benavides revised the city budget on April 14, she eliminated eight positions — two administrative staff members, one division chief for support and logistics, and five vacant positions.

"No one has officially lost their job," Ferrell-Benavides said. "Individuals have been notified of plans to eliminate their job, but currently all staff are on paid administrative leave until we decide how we're going to handle this."

She also said that no engine staff has been cut.

"We have not reduced any positions that actually get on trucks to fight a fire. There is not a body who fought a fire that has been reduced," Ferrell-Benavides said.

No cost to inform

One retired firefighter who watched and recorded his former colleagues' abrupt clearing out of the city's oldest fire station calls the way the process was handled "pathetic."

"They were told to take everything out of the station, refrigerator, cooking stove, anything that they could get out, get it out of there, and after that they won't be allowed back in the station anymore," Gene Beemer said. "And these guys kept asking the chief why. And they never would give them an answer.

"Don't get me wrong, I know all across the country right now, cities are in big time trouble with the budget because coronavirus is costing millions and millions of dollars everywhere," Beemer said. "But, it doesn't cost a dime to communicate with your city leaders."

The initial reason circulated for the close was mold remediation, but the city has since revealed the decision was more dollar-based.

What's next?

While Station 4 sits silent now, the city manager said she has not ruled out the possibility of it reopening. There is also an outside chance the station could be completely replaced with a newer one, although likely not at the same Sycamore Street location due to the lot size.

Ferrell-Benavides said that she is going to meet with fire staff over the coming days to find a remedy. While she admitted she is not an expert on firefighting, she said she wants to have authoritative advice on where to place fire stations.

"I have an area that I believe is not covered, but I can't tell you that," she said. "My goal is to understand and then make a decision based on our expert to tell me where we are missing."

———

Visit The Progress-Index, Petersburg, Va. at www.progress-index.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.