Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993 TAG: 9303040075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
FIREHOUSE STUDY: CLOSE 1, MOVE 3
Roanoke should close one fire station and relocate three others to help improve its fire protection system..The city also needs to hire 46 firefighters so it can fully staff all fire engines and ladder trucks on all calls.
These are the main findings of an analysis of the location of the city's 14 fire stations and the staffing needs of the Fire Department. A committee consisting mainly of Fire Department employees did the analysis using a computer software program that other cities have used to determine the best locations for fire stations.
The report proposes closing Station No. 12 on Salem Turnpike Northwest and relocating Nos. 2, 4 and 7, Fire Department sources said Wednesday.
But the draft report has not been released, and city officials said they have reached no conclusions.
"This is a very fluid situation. We are not ready to make any recommendations yet," said George Snead, director of public safety.
He said the data that has been generated by the computer model on response times and staffing levels is being reviewed.
Snead said it's premature to say whether city officials will make any recommendations on closing or relocating stations. He said he feared that publicity about the findings might alarm some residents because fire protection is an emotional issue.
Snead said he expects the study and recommendations to be released within 60 days.
Fire Chief Rawleigh Quarles would not comment on the study, which has lasted 18 months.
"The report is in draft form now and is still being reviewed," Quarles said. "I can neither confirm nor deny what it might say or recommend."
Sources in the Fire Department said the report proposes closing Station No. 12 and reassigning the firefighters to Station No. 1 in downtown.
Over five years, three stations would be moved to provide faster response times in some areas. The stations and their current locations are:
No. 2 on Noble Avenue Northeast near Interstate 581.
No. 4 on Aerial Way Drive Southwest off Brandon Avenue.
No. 7 on Memorial Avenue Southwest near the Grandin Road shopping area.
The report proposes a general vicinity for the relocated stations, but not specific sites.
The city's response time on most fire calls is four minutes or less, but it is slower in some areas of Southwest and Northeast Roanoke.
If the stations were relocated, it would reduce response times by about one-third on a citywide basis, according to department sources.
The study has shown that 27 additional firefighters are needed for the 245-member department to ensure that all fire engines and ladder trucks are fully staffed on calls.
The city has four firefighters assigned to each fire engine and ladder truck, but often there are only three aboard because some are off work on vacation, training, illness or another reason.
The additional firefighters are needed to meet the National Fire Protection Association's standards on staffing.
The draft report also proposes the hiring of 15 firefighters to create a new ladder truck company at Station No. 10, near the Roanoke Regional Airport. In addition, it proposes hiring three battalion chiefs and a fitness coordinator.
The city bought the software for the study for $18,000 from Public Technology Inc. of Washington, D.C., a company that has done similar studies for Alexandria, Arlington, Norfolk and Portsmouth, among other cities.
Nearly half of Roanoke's fire stations are in older neighborhoods. The last station to open was No. 14 on Mecca Street off Orange Avenue last year.
The city has built two new stations and rented two others in outlying areas since it annexed 16 square miles of Roanoke County in 1976.
When the city annexed the heavily populated suburban neighborhoods on its western and southwestern boundary, the annexation court ordered it to provide three fire stations in the area.
Since then, the city has built a fire station at Appleton Avenue and Peters Creek Road (Station No. 13) as the court ordered.
The city has continued to rent two privately owned buildings for Station Nos. 12 and 4 to meet the court order instead of constructing permanent stations.
The city has delayed a decision on the permanent stations in those areas because the proposed extension of Peters Creek Road could affect the location and number of stations that would be needed.
If the highway is extended from Melrose Avenue to Brandon Avenue as planned, city officials have said, only one permanent station would be needed in the area now served by two temporary stations.
The temporary stations are relatively close together, but fire trucks can't cross the Roanoke River and Norfolk Southern railroad tracks without traveling long distances.