Fire Station 6, at 3216 N.E. 112th Ave, closed Jan 1., but could reopen by June if the city accepts a $2.3 million grant awarded Friday.
Determined to save their local firehouse, a group of concerned citizens will hold a rally at Fire Station 6 Saturday to convince the Vancouver City Council to keep its doors open.
o What: Friends of Vancouver Fire Station 6 will gather to hold a rally and protest the station’s proposed closure Jan. 1, 2011.
o When: 10 a.m. Saturday.
o Where: Fire Station 6, 3216 N.E. 112th Ave.
The station, in the Burton area at 3216 N.E. 112th Ave., is set to close Jan. 1 as part of $10 million in budget cuts facing the city’s general fund, which pays for general services such as police, fire, parks and roads.
Fire Station 6 was chosen to be closed because it is in the center of the city, and is the only firehouse surrounded by other stations that can cover the area, Fire Chief Don Bivins has said.
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The closure includes the elimination of 18 firefighter positions. Eleven police jobs will be lost to attrition, although an additional 10 planned layoffs will be spared by a federal grant.
Upon hearing about the planned closure of the Burton station, which will put average response times over 5 minutes in much of central Vancouver, Image neighborhood resident Mary Elkin decided to take action.
“I’m not a political activist kind of person,” said the mother of a 5-year-old son. “But something has to be done.”
@NormalParagraphStyle:She formed a group, Friends of Fire Station 6, on Facebook, with more than 400 fans. She and others have handed out more than 1,200 fliers and expect 150 to 200 people to show up to Saturday’s rally.
“I’m hoping first of all to raise awareness the rally exists, and to change the city council’s mind,” Elkin, 43, said. “The final vote has not been taken by the city council to finalize the cuts.”
The city will finalize the budget in meetings in October and November. Fire District 6, which is not part of the Vancouver Fire Department, or associated with Fire Station 6, has no planned closures.
The rally harkens back to earlier this year, when dozens, including Vancouver Firefighter Union members and neighbors, rallied to protest the loss of a medical rescue unit at Fire Station 3.
That unit has since been decommissioned; an engine unit remains at Fire Station 3, which is still open.
o What: Friends of Vancouver Fire Station 6 will gather to hold a rally and protest the station's proposed closure Jan. 1, 2011.
o When: 10 a.m. Saturday.
o Where: Fire Station 6, 3216 N.E. 112th Ave.
Elkin, who owns a local accounting business, said she knows that saving Fire Station 6 would mean the possible closure of either the Marshall or Firstenburg recreation centers and other big cuts. But she said that’s preferable to losing firefighters.
“Everybody I talked to resoundingly has said yes” to making other budget choices, Elkin said. “In all the city surveys, first responders are the last things citizens want to cut.”
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