Considering the date it happened, it sounded like it could have been a joke when city officials announced on April Fool's Day last year that they were closing one of Auburn's three fire stations.

Yet by the end of the day on April 1, the locks were changed and the engine was no longer parked at the fire station on Frederick Street.

A year later, the surprise has settled into a reality. The voices of outrage over the sudden closure have died down. The official estimates on the advantages of the move are now memories.

But the data is beginning to trickle in. While many of the predictions surrounding the station were not quite on the money, the effect of its elimination can be seen within and beyond the numbers.

Response times are up from last year, but only slightly. The city has saved money by closing the station and renting it to a new tenant, but only a few thousand dollars.

There are other effects, too, that can't be quantified. According to a recently released update to a 2003 study on the Auburn Fire Department, the closure has resulted in less physical space and more frustration over communication within the department.

But the same study also states the department's current situation, with the main station on Market Street and a secondary location on Clark Street, is not optimal. While the AFD is described as operationally effective, the study suggests the city formulate a plan to either build a new, central station for the entire department or two stations on opposite ends of the city.

Officials at the AFD and city hall agree that changes and upgrades are needed at the department. But just how those changes will look, and to what extent they will reach, have yet to be decided.

“I can tell you there's not going to be any big April changes this year,” Auburn Fire Chief Mike Hammon said last week.

Sitting in his office at the AFD's Market Street Station on a recent afternoon, Hammon discussed some of the departmental statistics over the last two years.

The department's overall call volume is up from 4,905 to 5,209. Structure fires have increased 30 percent over the last year.

“Our business is booming,” Hammon said.

So what about the numbers related to the station closure? During the year before the Frederick Street station closed, the department recorded an average response time of 2 minutes 24 second. Over the past year, the average time was 12 seconds higher.

Hammon also pointed out that the average number of EMS vehicles used per call has dropped from 1.77 to 1.06. And the average overall time per call has fallen from 22:58 to 20:12.

When the station was closed last year, the department restructured its engine companies so that four firefighters would be on the scene at every call. National standards dictate that a minimum of four firefighters must be on the ground before a fire can be engaged.

As for the 12 seconds, Hammon described it as “a negligible change in response time,” and noted that the AFD is still responding to 95 percent of its calls in eight minutes or less, which adheres to federal standards.

But some might also describe as negligible the amount of real dollars the city has saved so far by closing the station.

When it was shut down, the city estimated that it would save $14,558 per year by eliminating the cost of upkeep and utilities for the building. There was the possibility of selling the building and making $160,000, officials said at the time.

The city also estimated saving $16,000 per year from decreased vehicle maintenance and fuel.

Instead of selling the property and rezoning it for commercial use, the city agreed to rent it to TLC Emergency Medical Services for $450 per month. Between rent, upkeep, maintenance, utilities and other costs, the city has so far saved just more than $10,500 by closing the Frederick Street station.

“In the grand scheme of the budget, that is a small amount,” Hammon said.

But Hammon also pointed out that the department has been hammered with maintenance costs this year. Some of those costs will improve with the arrival of two brand new engines, which are expected within a couple months.

“If we got the new engines before, you could probably argue that maintenance costs would have gone down,” he said.

Tight spaces

When the station closed, the main debate revolved around cost savings and response times. But since then, a different issue has emerged.

“We're over-crowded,” said Steve Parker, president of Auburn Professional Fire Fighters Local 1446.

According to an updated version of MMA Consulting Group's study of the AFD's operations, “The central fire station is not adequate for the complement of personnel currently deployed at the fire department.”

The study also suggests that the “living conditions” at the same station on Market Street need improvements.

During a conversation at the fire station, Parker and other union representatives pointed out the need for a new station or improvements to the current situation.

When Frederick Street was closed, all of the new personnel and equipment put more strain on an already strained facility, Parker said. There are issues with the station's main floor, which sits over a basement. There are cracks in the shower floor.

The relocation even forced the women in the department to share a locker room with the Auburn Police Department, which is located directly adjacent to the main fire station.

The department can't continue to function like this forever, Parker said. Sooner or later, the city needs to put some money into the building or get going on a new station.

Until that happens, though, Parker said the union would like to see the city re-open the Frederick Street station for the AFD. It would be an easy fix for a lot of these issues, he said.

“Change is inevitable, we understand that,” said Parker, who was critical along with the union of the Frederick Street closure. “But even if (a new station) was approved now, it would be two to four years out.”

The MMA study, the results of which city officials used as the basis for last year's closure, offers three suggestions for new stations. Build a single, central station that serves as the base for the entire AFD operation. The other possibilities, according to the study, are to have two stations located at either north and south, or east and west, ends of the city.

“The Auburn Fire Department and the city are now at a critical juncture,” the study reads. “It is important that major stakeholders ... develop a mutually agreeable and cost-effective plan for fire and rescue services.”

Chief Hammon agrees, and he suggested the city should put together a formal, multi-year plan for the future of the department.

Auburn City Manager Mark Palesh said he also believes the department is in a state of change. When he pulled the trigger on closing the station last year, he made multiple comments about major changes in the near future.

Those changes, he said, could involve a municipal fire authority that combines the resources of the AFD and the volunteer departments from surrounding towns and villages.

Before the city addresses plans for a new station, Palesh said, he wants to investigate how feasible it would be to form an authority. He was one of the driving forces between a similar fire authority when he worked in Salt Lake City, Utah, and he believes the same thing can possibly happen here.

Ideally, he could see one new, central station in Auburn with the stations from surrounding towns serving as satellite locations for the authority. The organization would be comprised of both paid and volunteer individuals who would work in coordination with one another.

“At the end of the day, the city needs to move forward and make the decisions that are necessary,” Palesh said.

Such concepts are especially intriguing in tight economies, Palesh said. The state has been encouraging plans for consolidation, and grant money could be available to look into a fire authority.

The biggest issue with that setup, he continued, would be turf. These departments have a lot of tradition, Palesh said.

“People volunteer their time to put themselves in harm's way without getting any pay,” he said. “It brings about a brother-and-sisterhood that is kind of localized, and we would have to make sure not to trample that.”

But until that happens, giving the old satellite station back the fire department is out of the question, Palesh said.

Station or no station, Auburn firefighters say they will continue to do what they have to do to serve city residents in emergencies. Firefighter Scott DeJoy, who is also on the union board, said it is unlikely that the public notices any of these changes or issues within the department.

There is still the same red truck out front, and there are still the same people giving them some help when they need it, DeJoy said.

“No matter how we're forced to operate, we're going to give the city the best protection we can,” DeJoy said. “But the city has to decide what they want to do and they have to move forward.”

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.

Neighbors tout the value of AFD satellite facilities

By Christopher Caskey / The Citizen

AUBURN - Marilyn Nesbit has lost her connection with the rest of the city. Or at least that's the way she feels a year after the city closed the Frederick Street fire station.

Nesbit, who can see the former station from her porch on Augustus Street, said she used to know if there was a major emergency.

“You always knew if there was something going on because you heard them going out,” she said.

Nesbit is one of the residents near Frederick Street who no longer have the luxury of a fire station in their neighborhood.

While moving that station has not had a major effect on average response times so far, and the presence of TLC Emergency Medical Services at the location ensures the presence of emergency responders, many residents still say they miss having the big red truck down the street.

And though no plans are in place for the department's future, the city has been eyeing the possibility of a single, central station that would house the entire Auburn Fire Department. If that eventually happens, the engine and firefighters currently located on Clark Street would likely move downtown, as well.

Nesbit said she also misses the feeling of safety she used to get from knowing a fire engine was only seconds away.

“You just feel more safe and secure,” she said.

Irene Varga, who also lives on Augustus Street, agrees. A day-care provider, Varga said at the time of last year's closure that she was concerned about how the change could affect response times.

This week, Varga said she has not seen any major change in the neighborhood resulting from the move. She also said the presence of the ambulance company has brought back some of the original peace of mind she once had with the station down the street.

However, Varga also said her original concerns still remain to a degree. What if there is a major fire in her neighborhood? How much longer will it take for an engine to get to her place from downtown, or from the west end?

“Luckily, I haven't had that experience,” she said. “But for me, it was a relief to know (the fire department) was up there.”

Ed Darrow, 46, still has that relief. Darrow lives on Clark Street, and he is less than half a mile from the city's second station on the same road.

Darrow said it is a “major comfort” to know a fire crew is less than 30 seconds away if he needs them. But Darrow also said he didn't have a huge problem with the city closing the station on the other side of town.

As long as they kept the promise not to eliminate jobs or resources, and as long as response times were not hit hard, he said it is worth the trade-off to have four firefighters on the ground when the first engine arrives.

“But I would hate to see us lose Station 3,” Darrow said of the Clark Street station.

Angela Pitcher would also hate to see that station closed. When Pitcher heard about the Frederick Street closure last year, she began to worry the same could happen on the west side of town, she said.

Pitcher is co-owner of The Pool & Spa Shoppe Inc. on Clark Street, not far from the fire station. Pitcher said the presence of the fire engine brings added peace of mind for her, as the treatment chemicals stored at her business could make a fire situation exponentially more serious.

“Yes, there are concerns (about the station closing),” she said. “I like knowing those guys are down there.”

Pitcher said their presence is noticed by the entire neighborhood. She recalled a handful of medical emergencies that have occurred near her store over the past couple years.

An engine was on the scene within seconds for each one, Pitcher said.

“I think our taxpayer dollars are very well spent as far as our first responders are concerned,” Pitcher said. “They should always be the last of anything cut.”

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net