Possible Fire Station Closure Sparks Public Interest in Georgia

People concerned about a plan to close a fire station in downtown Macon told Mayor Jack Ellis they opposed the idea Thursday night at a public meeting. Some were worried about longer response times if one of the busiest and oldest stations in the city were closed.

At the meeting, Ellis backed off comments he had made about closing the historic station on Monroe Street without replacing it. He also emphasized that there is no current plan to close the station, and that he needs to hear more from the public before he makes a decision.

During the meeting, people who said they opposed the closure were met with cheers and applause from residents and a group of firefighters who attended the meeting. "No decision has been made about closing the fire station," Ellis said. "Obviously, it's getting further and further off the list."

He said that he supported building a new station somewhere near Lamar Street and Vineville Avenue that would merge the Monroe Street station and another station on Pio Nono Avenue.

Ellis said that building the new fire station could cost $1.5 million. He said it might not be prudent to build a new structure - and create new debt - when trying to pass a SPLOST to retire old debt. But he said, "If we can spend $30 million on a new jail, we can spend $1.5 million on a new fire station."

But residents said they had concerns that it would increase response time in an area that has some of the oldest homes made of the most flammable materials. The Monroe Street station, Station 2, covers the downtown, Intown, Ingleside, Pleasant Hill and Vineville areas.

Walker Rivers, a High Street resident, held up a piece of pine called fat lighter that he had taken from his home and lit it to demonstrate how flammable his home and other older homes in the area are.

He compared moving the station away to an old movie where someone is tied to a powder keg with a lit fuse attached.

"Now would you rather have the hero right there blowing on the fuse, or like to have him running from way over there, huffing and puffing?"

Rivers, a former firefighter, also drew on his own experience to express his concern.

"I've seen what burned-up bodies look like. I have smelled burned-up bodies, and it's something I never want to see again, and I certainly don't want to walk down and see it in my daughter's bedroom or in my neighbor's house," Rivers said.

Andy Cerry, who lives on Orange Street, held his daughter's hand, and he talked about a 2004 fire at his Queen Anne home, and how the damage could have been worse. The early morning fire destroyed part of his kitchen. But he said he worried that the damage would have been more serious had there been a longer response time.

Wednesday, Fire Chief Jimmy Hartley said that closing Station 2 without replacing it would lead to the department's Insurance Services Office rating being lowered from a class 1. That would mean increased fire insurance premiums for property owners. Hartley said the insurance costs would surpass the amount of money that would be saved by closing the station.

The plan that Ellis discussed Thursday night is similar to a 1998 plan supported by Hartley. That plan would build a state-of-the-art fire station to replace Station 2 and the Pio Nono Avenue station, which Hartley has said are outdated. The plan would save $540,000, most of that money coming from the loss of 12 positions through attrition.

But with the Macon-Bibb County Fire department ranked the highest in the sate, some residents asked, "Why fix it if it ain't broke?"

Ellis said that money was part of the consideration, but efficiency would be improved.

Julie Groce, president of Intown Macon Neighborhood Association, said she wanted to know why these two stations, which are some of the busiest in the city, would be merged as opposed to less-active stations. She said she would like to see further studies on the matter.

Distributed by the Associated Press