May 2010 - Special Town Meeting
Arlington seeks millions to update 2 fire stations. Problems with the plan include -
1. No in-depth analysis of community fire protection needs has been conducted. Mutual aid plans have not been realistically updated in 30 years. [ There are many examples of in-depth fire department studies here - https://sites.google.com/site/standardsofcoverfire/ ]
2. Final result will cause a huge oversupply of capability in the River St area.
3. 1920s thinking is driving the project.
4. Arlington Center fire station will not be able to house 2 aerial vehicles.
5. Highland Station (Mass Ave at Brattle St) will not have drive thru bays. Central Fire Station (Mass Ave at Broadway) might have 1 drive thru bay.
6. Highland Station will have a lowered floor with flooding potential.
7. Neither station will have full size doors.
8. There is no information available on Town website about the project.
9. If Arlington moves to a Public Safety Officer concept, both stations will be unnecessary.
10. Economic conditions dictate that a quick short update of both stations is adequate to improve health conditions in the buildings.
11. Arlington has a very poor history regarding fire station improvements. The Park Circle Fire Station was supposed to house an ambulance, have 2 bays, and be equipped with a sprinkler system.
12. The United States has one of the worst fire problems of any industrialized nations. There is no clear relationship between fire department expenditures and positive results. [Please see the paragraph beginning "No one in the world ... " on page 66 here - https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnx3b3JsZGZpcmVzaXRlfGd4OjQ2ZmRmMGQ3YzA5ZWMwYTA ]
12 A. Fire department operations are heavily driven by firefighter unions. [ http://www.gilroydispatch.com/printer/article.asp?c=260913 - please see "The Truth behind ... " ]
13. There is no readily available information available to the public about Arlington Fire Department effectiveness, efficiency, response times, etc. For a very quick look at the effectiveness of a fire department, look at the first comments for this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0NIe6ywlZE - and at this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZzQibzeWtY
14. There has been a call to renovate the Central Fire Station, use it for 10 years approximately, and then convert it to a Visitors Center. It may be wiser to convert it to a Visitors Center immediately.
15. Photo of Los Angeles County Fire Station 155 - not every fire station has to be humongous - http://www.fire.lacounty.gov/HometownFireStations/Photos/FS155.jpg