Federal Funds Make it Possible to Reopen Mass. Station

LAWRENCE, Mass. -- The Prospect Hill Engine 6 firehouse reopens this morning, 2 1/2 years after it was closed due to budget cuts and layoffs.

At least three firefighters, sometimes four, will now be on duty in shifts around the clock at the 480 Howard St. firehouse, said fire Chief Jack Bergeron.

The station can reopen because the fire department received a $6.6 million SAFER federal grant which allowed the city to hire and train 38 additional firefighters. Some of those firefighters are still being trained, but a dozen are ready to fill shifts at the Prospect Hill station, Bergeron said.

"We've been working up there on the (firehouse) getting things ready for the past several weeks," he said.

The reopening drew strong praise from the firefighters union, which fiercely protested several firehouse closures and repeatedly warned of unsafe conditions created by them.

"We're very happy. Our goal is to open up firehouses. ... It's progress that's good for everybody in the city," said Patrick Driscoll, firefighter's union president.

The firehouse reopening is Bergeron's first major move as chief. Mayor William Lantigua recently appointed the 36-year fire department veteran and city native as chief in December. Bergeron, 59, will be sworn in as chief during a ceremony at the reopened station this morning.

A neighborhood breakfast is also planned later this week to welcome the firefighters back to Prospect Hill, said Sandy Almonte, the District A/Prospect Hill city councilor.

"We're really excited. We are starting to see the fruits of our hard labor," Almonte said. "Everything is slowly but surely moving in the right direction. ... I am excited and happy about the safety of our district," she added.

The Prospect Hill firehouse closed in August 2009 after 10 city firefighters were laid off. The following summer, an additional 23 Lawrence firefighters were laid off, which kept Prospect Hill locked up and also shut down Engine 8 at 298 Ames St. on Tower Hill and Engine 9 on Bailey Street in South Lawrence.

Lantigua, in a statement released yesterday afternoon, said today's reopening will mark "a true commitment to rebuild our fire protection in the heart of our neighborhoods."

"The people of Prospect Hill have waited long enough for the doors of Engine 6 to open and I will continue to work with Chief Bergeron to find solutions rather than conflict as we work towards opening the remaining firehouses that were closed some time ago," Lantigua said in the statement.

With the SAFER grant, the city rehired or replaced the 23 laid off firefighters and filled openings left by 15 other firefighters who retired or went out on disability.

As chief, Bergeron has said his biggest challenge will be retaining the firefighters hired with federal grant money. Such grant money may not be available annually.

Bergeron warned "everything is dependent on the SAFER grant." He noted city officials, with help from state-appointed fiscal overseer Robert Nunes, are "working really hard to bring the city's resources back."

Copyright 2012 - The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service