Saturday, January 18, 2014
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
STRUTHERS
For more than 60 years, the city has operated two fire stations: one on Elm Street to service the city’s south side, one on Frank Street to service its north side.
But in the next few years, as city officials consider potential funding sources for a new main fire station, they’ll also have to consider the cost of maintaining two fire stations, and whether it’s time to have just one centrally located station in the city, said Mayor Terry Stocker.
“It’s always been a blessing to have two fire stations, but, obviously, they have to be staffed,” Stocker said. “How are you going to pay for it? Do you still need two fire stations?”
Homeowner Ruth Charles, however, said the auxiliary station needs to stay. To shutter it would be a safety issue, as the reason the Frank Street station was built in the first place remains the reason it’s needed today.
Charles has long lived on Woodbine Avenue, in a part of Struthers that is located across railroad tracks from the main fire station. If a firetruck is responding to an emergency in that area and is stopped by a train, “it could be sitting there for an hour,” she explained.
“I live here, and I’m concerned as others should be,” Charles said. “I have one of the nicest homes in Struthers, and I don’t want my home to burn down.”
Stocker noted that when the Frank Street station was built in 1954, its construction was necessary to protect the city’s residents, as multiple sets of railroad tracks could — and did — significantly delay the arrival of firetrucks to house fires and other emergencies.
Today, though, a lower connector bridge, located at the end of Bob Cene Way and constructed in 2010, virtually eliminates those tie-ups.
Some aren’t so sure that the new bridge solves that problem, though.
Trains running through the city’s downtown sometimes still force firetrucks to turn around and take an alternate route, which adds about three minutes, said Gary Mudryk, the city’s fire chief since 2011.
And with a fire doubling in size roughly every minute, those extra few minutes aren’t something to be taken lightly. Plus, with medical emergencies like heart attacks, there’s only “a 10-minute window before there’s nothing you can do,” Mudryk said.
The fire department’s longest response time now for anywhere in the city is four minutes.
Mudryk added that the Frank Street station is important not only for protecting residents of the city’s north side, but also for protecting Astro Shapes, the aluminum-extruding company that is the city’s largest employer.
The 300,000-square-foot facility on 7 acres is located in downtown Struthers.
“You want to be there quick,” Mudryk said, explaining that the plant’s paint department in particular is “pretty volatile.”
Tony Fire, 1st Ward councilman, agreed that the station is necessary.
Having a firetruck on that side of the city in the event of an emergency could mean the difference between life and death, he added.
“You could save somebody’s life,” Fire said. “I would never vote to do anything other than keep that fire station.”