CLEVELAND, Ohio – Under Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s proposed 2017 budget, the fire department plans to revive a fire company that was idled in 2008 amid controversy that doing so would increase response times to emergencies.
During an interview Wednesday with cleveland.com reporters and editors, Jackson said he is proposing that the city hire 18 additional firefighters to staff the company, which would be located near the Western Reserve Fire Museum and Education Center on Carnegie Avenue.
Jackson said the company replaces the former Fire Station 21, which housed a pumper truck and fire boat on Carter Road on the West bank of the Flats and served the Tremont neighborhood and parts of downtown.
The station was “browned out” in 2008, when staffing levels dipped below a specific threshold of firefighters on daily duty.
At the time, City Council members, residents and fire union officials argued that closing the station was reckless because response times would be impeded by bridge and lane closures during the Inner Belt construction.
Jackson said Wednesday that the elimination of the firehouse did, indeed, add pressure on the remaining companies to respond to emergencies on the near West Side and Poker downtown.
In seeking feedback recently from Fire Chief Angelo Calvillo on how to improve response times, Jackson said, he realized that re-opening a company downtown was the right move.
He said he hopes the city will hold a fire academy and fill out the company by year’s end. Until then, he said, he proposes the city pay firefighters overtime to staff the station.
Jackson budgeted a total of $2.8 million extra for the fire department this year, which also covers four support staffers, ballistic vests and a new records management system.
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