ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
A city employee study group has recommended closing two Northwest Roanoke fire stations and merging them into a larger new station on Salem Turnpike near the Peters Creek Road extension that is under construction.
But the idea - which Fire Chief James Grigsby emphasizes is "not etched in stone" - has some Northwest community groups concerned.
They fear combining two stations into one will spread fire service thin and increase response times. Grigsby pledges that won't happen.
The recommendation could affect Fire Station No. 12 at 4810 Salem Turnpike and Fire Station No. 9 at Melrose and 24th Street Northwest.
The city's Strategic Planning Committee in May recommended closing both stations after Peters Creek Road extension is built. In their place would be a single new station approximately one mile east of Station No. 12.
The subject arose at two community meetings Thursday night. One was held by the Concerned Citizens of Wilmont Farms, Signal Hill and Cherry Hill, where residents accused the city of keeping them in the dark on the plan.
The other was a meeting of the Ridgewood Park Neighborhood League, which Grigsby attended.
"One station for two, do you think that's sufficient?'' asked the Rev. Walter Wilson, a member of the Wilmont Farms, Signal Hill and Cherry Hill group. "We have to let our neighbors know we have a problem here. Maybe it's not a problem yet, but it's going to be ... There's a lot of people that know about this, but the city hasn't come clean. We want them to know that we know."
"A lot of people say, `Oh, it won't happen to me,''' Don Hairston said. "And then their house catches on fire and burns up because they moved the fire house."
"I think it's on the mind of everybody in this general area," Bernice Meador said at the Ridgewood Farms meeting.
"We're definitely concerned about it," Ken Stafford said. "But [Grigsby] said they're going to put more equipment in [the new station]. He said we wouldn't lose any insurance rating whatsoever.''
At both meetings, residents said their fears about losing Station No. 12 were fueled by a lack of fire hydrants in the area.
One man said there are no hydrants in a mile-long stretch of Salem Turnpike between Caldwell Road and Old Stevens Road. Another noted that there are only four hydrants in the 250-home community of Ridgewood Farms.
Grigsby said the idea to close the aging stations - one of which the city rents - is preliminary, and he hasn't yet passed it along to the city administration.
When and if the administration approves, it will be taken to community groups for their reaction, the chief said.
"It's not a fait accompli, but I think the recommendation makes good business sense and it enhances public safety," Grigsby said. "We are not going to reduce public safety services. We're going to maintain the status quo or increase them."
The employee group has been working for months on the proposal, which is part of a broader study of the city's delivery of fire services. The panel also recommended incorporating Emergency Medical Services Rescue Station No. 4 into the a new Salem Turnpike station. Currently it is located across the street from Fire Station No. 9 on Melrose.
Fire Station No. 9 houses a ladder truck and an engine, while Fire Station No. 12 houses only an engine. The new station would have one engine, a new enhanced ladder truck that can double as an engine, plus the paramedic unit.
Everybody within the are would still be within 1.5 miles of a fire station, which is within the guidelines set by the fire insurance industry. Thus, their insurance payments would not increase, Grigsby said.
"We want to make sure we're delivering the right amount of equipment at the right response times with the right number of employees," the chief said. "And we're talking about something that's 12 to 18 months down the road. I want to bring the citizens into the loop and ask them where the new station should be."
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART Staffby CNBRalph Spraker, a lieutenant with the Roanoke City Fire
Department, moves a reserve fire engine at the No. 12 Fire Station
on Salem Turnpike. A city panel has recommended closing the station.
(graphic) map. color.