Reopening of Warren fire station sparks optimism

By ED RUNYAN

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

With Thursday’s reopening of the Parkman Road Northwest fire station, the city has a second operational station for the first time since April 2009.

The Parkman Road station won’t operate quite the way it did in 2009 and won’t be open every day of the week, but having a second station could

reduce response times to some calls on the west side, Fire Chief Ken Nussle said.

The station is across from the Trumbull Plaza, about four minutes from the main fire station on South Street downtown.

The fire engine at the Parkman Road Station probably will get to fires first on 15 percent to 20 percent of all emergency calls, Nussle said, and could shave minutes off of response times.

To reopen the Parkman Road station now, Nussle had to “compromise” on a guideline that each firetruck should have four firefighters on board, he said. Trucks at Parkman Road sometimes will have only three.

Joe Vescera, owner of Sorrento’s Restaurant, just north of the Parkman Road station, said he’s pleased the

station is back open.

“We’re fortunate to have it only two doors away. They can get here much faster than if they had to come from downtown Warren,” he said.

He added that the future of the city depends on people’s having confidence in the schools, police department and fire department.

“They’re the reasons people come to a city,” he said.

Because engineering consultants A.C. Charnas & Associates of Warren indicated in 2009 that the Parkman Road station’s main floor area wasn’t strong enough to support the weight of 63,000-pound ladder truck, Nussle has moved an engine truck there that is about half the weight.

The station will house three firefighters 24 hours a day on the days when there are enough firefighters to man the station. That will happen about 70 percent of the time, Nussle said.

Any time there are 14 firefighters working on a shift, there will be enough to open two fire stations. When there are at least 17 per shift, the station on Atlantic Street Northeast will open, Nussle said.

The department has 61 firefighters now, including the chief. That works out to 19 firefighters plus one inspector on each shift, but there are up to five people off per shift for vacations and other reasons.

The 15 firefighters to be hired in waves over the next two months with the money being received from a $5 million, two-year federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant will give the department 75 firefighters, or 19 to 24 per shift.