ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
For the second time in a little more than three weeks, the Roanoke Fire Department on Wednesday briefly closed a fire station - a move that brought criticism from City Council members and community leaders.
But Fire Chief Jim Grigsby said it's a frequent and "standard practice" that leaves no person or property in danger. Instead, he said, a few firefighters opposed to coming departmental changes took "a cheap shot" that needlessly caused fearby going out of their way to inform residents of the station's closing.
The controversy comes as the chief and members of the Roanoke Firefighters Association are beginning to lock horns over the closing of some stations, reducing the total number of trained fire suppression and EMS personnel, and replacing older equipment with new pieces that the firefighters don't like.
Fire Station No.12 on Salem Turnpike in Northwest Roanoke was closed for 21/2 hours Wednesday - from 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. - so one of its three firefighters could go to headquarters for a conference with Grigsby.
During the down time, the station's two other firefighters were sent to Fire Station No.9, at Melrose Avenue and 24th Street Northwest.
In a replay of a June 29 station closing in Southeast's Garden City, word quickly spread through the community, prompting a flurry of telephone calls to City Hall, the Fire Department and media.
The June 29 closing was prompted when some firefighters called in sick and others could not be found to replace them.
But Fire Department sources say station closings have been exacerbated because Grigsby has chosen not to replace four firefighters who've recently left the department. Meanwhile, four other firefighters are on indefinite sick leave.
"Why didn't Grigsby go to Station 12 for the meeting? That way they wouldn't have had to close it," asked one firefighter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he fears reprisals.
"Nobody has let me know anything about it and I'm very upset," said the Rev. Walter Wilson, president of the Concerned Citizens of Wilmont Farms, Signal Hill and Cherry Hill in Northwest Roanoke.
Grigsby "is gambling with our lives," said Deana Willard, of the Summit Hills community, which is served by Fire Station No.12.
"You're kidding," said Vice Mayor Linda Wyatt, who was critical of the June 29 closure of Station No.11 in Garden City at a July 1 council meeting.
"If it's negligence on the part of the fire chief again, I intend to take the city manager to task," Councilman Carroll Swain said. "This cannot continue to exist, when citizen safety is possibly placed in jeopardy.
"They need to fill those [vacant] positions so they have backup personnel," he added. "Maybe rather than cutting or reducing personnel, they need to increase it."
Grigsby confirmed that Station No.12 - normally manned with at least three people - was placed on "out of service" status for the 21/2 hours while one firefighter conferred with him at headquarters downtown.
But he said "out of service" stations are normal rather than an exception. Stations are frequently closed for training or administrative purposes, he said.
"We do it as standard practice. ... That's a standard practice that's been ongoing for 20 years," the chief said.
"If the issue here is fire or EMS response, we have the best in the Roanoke Valley, period," Grigsby said. "Does [out-of-service] status for training, administrative procedures - whatever - jeopardize the run time, the response time? The answer is no."
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB